Today’s prompt finally arrived, tardy but timeless. The challenge was to write a poem inspired by an entry from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. 

The entries are very vivid – so I selected the word aftersome, which intrigued me in its own way. You will find the definition in the hyperlink. Reading the definition may help you understand the poem. 

Aftersome

While I was trying to climb the rope in gym class 
or wanting to sing that duet with Charles Randall,
the trajectory of my life shifted and turned
through the universe. 

One bizarre sequence of events or one little 
misstep would have brought me through 
a different portal—down a different path 
in that yellow wood. 

Feckless Fate tweaking my future without a thought
about what I really want— from one split second 
to another every movement orchestrated
by some master plan.

Aftersome accidents altering my elsewhere,
choosing my here and now—and all the while I am
a player and a puppet falling down
my own rabbit hole.

—A Draft Poem by Carla Jeanne Picklo Jordan

If you enjoyed my extra poem today, please comment in the section below. May you shine like the stars in your dreams tonight.