Write a poem about a shape

Whimsical Writing prompt January 4th

I’ve decided to write a poem about orbs. I’m weirdly a fan of them after a one of those gas station pumps in a small weird town in Arizona suggested a vocabulary word to me. The word was ‘orbicular’. It was a strange thing to see a gas station pump trying to expand my vernacular. Orbicular is a strange word. I held it in my brain.

Then as we were returning to our hotel in Las Vegas on the same trip we were near the strip, it was dark and in the middle of the road there rose up a giant, and I mean enormous, sphere. Which was orbicular. And I was awestruck. I joked that some day I would start a cult with the subject of that cult being orbs (I won’t because I’m a fan of people thinking for themselves) but what I am doing almost a year later, is getting a vanity license plate that says 42 ORBS. Why? I suspect because I like a long form joke. But also because the number 42 calms me, and we live on an orb, and orbs, they are everywhere. Fancy balls. That’s an orb.

At the beginning of my storytelling workshops, I would have folks introduce themselves with their name, why they were at the workshop and what their favourite shape was. Most folks have a favourite colour, but having them choose a favourite shape in the spot gave them a reason to create a story, and to make something up. I never really had a favourite shape so I’d choose something different every time…but now, I think my favourite shape is the orb.

Thus my shape poem is going to be about the orb. I look forward to seeing what you write about. Feel free to message me your poem, or post it below.

Orbicular

I don’t normally pay attention

To the dancing screens

On gas station pumps

Meant to entertain

Advertise

Distract

But when that machine

On that cold night in February

In some magical town

In Arizona

On the day of the superbowl

In 2023

When it flashed the word

ORBICULAR

As if I didn’t know what it meant

And set the definition

Just below it

I was moved

As if this machine was trying to

Get at the heart of me

To connect rather than its

Intended purpose

I bought beef jerky and chips

Questioning if I’d really had

That moment

Later in Vegas

We drove a road we drove

Many many times

We were married in Vegas

My partner is FROM Vegas

So when a giant sphere rose up

Magnificent

Orbicular

I couldn’t breathe

It was foretold

A gargantuan orb

Covered in screens

A monstrosity

Like Godzilla

Stepping into the city streets