For today's prompt, write a villain poem. You could write a persona poem from the perspective of a popular villain (like Count Dracula, Thanos, or Dolores Umbridge). Or write a poem with a person doing a villainous thing (like eating the last piece of pie or littering). As always, have fun with it. Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them. — Robert Lee Brewer, Writer’s Digest
faultfinding
who is to blame
whom do we find at fault
who stole
who killed
who destroyed?
we want to point the finger at someone
but when you orchestrated
your own death
we are left
without a villain
with only a consuming heartache
and the understanding
that you could see
no other way
and with the wish
that we could have had
one last chance
to persuade you
to hope against hope.
Would having someone to blame make us feel better? Be a relief? Bring us “closure”? Our brains are wired to seek answers, explanations, reasons. Yet I am acquainted with some grieving parents who lost children to other types of purposeful violence, or accidents in which a known person was clearly at fault — and knowing who did it is certainly not the end of their stories or their anguish. When you’ve lost a child, neither having nor not having a villain provides comfort.