On Self Reliance

A rondeau that emerged from a random words prompt

File ID: 13830345 by deniscristo licensed from depositphotos.com

Oh So Alone on an Island in a Sea of Humanity

For more months than I care to count
the divide continues to mount
Grains of sand slip through my fingers
On the beach I still malinger
My truth society will discount

Must act now for my own account
Show the world I am paramount
Stand up front as lead singer
Oh so alone on an island in a sea of humanity

Prey on sheep this stealthy catamount
Conformity I shall surmount
Liberty bell I shall be the ringer
Take notice here comes a zinger
Drivers of the herd shall now dismount
Oh so alone on an island in a sea of humanity

The prompt was to choose 5 of the following 10 words (any tense or form of the words and write a poem: mail, read, stem, prey, grain, act, month, oh, divide, notice (I bolded the 7 words I used).

During this period, I wrote many poems from random word prompts. Usually, they would jump off the page to me but this one had me stumped for days. Every time I looked at the prompt I drew a complete blank. After almost a week, when reflecting upon my spiritually awakened life, one of my laments about being awakened popped into my mind — “Alone on an Island in a Sea of Humanity” — and it occurred to me that I could probably use…