A New Prompt Poetry Game...

[KTC]

I thought I'd start a new poetry game. This one is taking the first line from Leonard Cohen's Chelsea Hotel and jumping off a cliff with it. I think it's a good inspiration to take you elsewhere. Start your poem with this line and see where it takes you:

I remember you well

[Stew21]

I remember you well,
the young me.
certain the lily of the valley
would swallow you whole.
praying for innocent, childhood sin
to be washed clean.
You cried when you did not understand
your mothers heartbreak.
Her strength wavering.
I remember you well.
I still tuck you in each night,
and let you live again
in wonder at the shapes
of clouds on blue endlessness.
let you dance in the country road rain.
Hear you remark on the view
from a tree.
Your fall still marks me.
The scars of youth
my snapshots
of the young me.
I remember you well.


*off the cuff and not pretty, but here you go!

[davids]

I remember you well
you was always a large load of
but then we stood in hell
and you became one of

I remember you well
your guts I can still taste
try to forget how you fell
saving my ass in thoughtless haste

Shit, I remember you well

[Rivana]

I remember you well
calm certainty.
Where have you been?
I've been missing you.
I remember not fondly
the days I spent
without you here.
Now I have no fear,
for fear surrenders
to my serene countenance.
Steady pace, returning grace;
this is life, this is mine.
The autumn sun,
the rain of circumstance.
I'll get the change
and I'll take it.
Because calm is mine,
it is always mine.
In the end you see,
it will be you and me
and all things
will be
well.

[dclary]

I remember you, well.
Breaker of hearts,
crusher of dreams.

Last lonely quarter
in the empty pocket of my soul
held fast in my fist
quivering
with the fear or excitement
of the promises
you promised
and the mystery
of the future
you whispered to me.

I remember you, well.
Denyer of wishes,
liar, cheater,
thief.

[laurel29]

I remember you well.
Crimson cloaked among the green.
The tang of wood smoke on your breath,
crisp and chill.
In your eyes – blue meets gray –
a promise held
of dark earth turning,
a long sleep coming…

[Williebee]

I remember you well.
Dancing away 'neath the full moon's light.
The butterfly touch of your lips still warm against my cheek.
It was a surprise first kiss on a warm spring night.
Decades gone now like a week.

First kiss, first touch, first time.
I bring each one out on the quiet days
Moments that have now become so few and far between.
They carry me through when your memories haze.
When I'm the husband that you've never seen.

[Ganesha]

I remember you
well, illness overtook
you, today I see only
sickness, still
do remember you
well

[Meerkat]

I remember you well
where I drew such drinks
of no greater utility
than thirst

I remember you well
in the yard as a monument stone
art from function
to form

I remember you well
when you drew down at last
final gift to life your
last drop

[III]

I remember you well
My toes
Thy wiry hair
Thy scent often smelly
Though thou hidest e'er
'Neath the shadow of mine belly
Whose weight thou dost bear
I nickname thee Kelly.

[poetprncess]

I remember you. Well rounded
and reserved. A proper boy
mother could serve apple pie to, topped
with vanilla swirl. If she had only seen
the gleam of seduction
sashaying against the cinnomon air,
the quick toe touching of footsie
and glints of wet
after your lips pressed mine -
she would remember you well.

[Paint]

I remember you well
dress of black satin
sliding down white shoulders
pooling at my feet
stained with lust
perfume of love.

[Unique]

I remember you well.
You held me through the dark hours
of my dawning
and when we arose together
I found:

There are no promises
in your mouth.
Only lonely kisses
left over from make believe nights
Full moon shadows
and darkness
creeping in around the edges
Spit out the stones
weighing you down
I let those lonely kisses
fill my mouth
with the promises
of tomorrow

and it hurts
I still love you.

[kdnxdr]

I remember you well
deeper
than I could imagine
darker
than that first night
wet
you held me
echoing
words of love
fathomless
I imagined another world

[Appalachian Writer]

I remember you well,
eighteen,
dark hair swinging by your waist,
jeans riding low on your hips.
I remember you well,
twenty-two,
white dress stroking the aisle,
walking toward hope
and him.
I remember you well,
twenty-four,
sterile walled hospital,
her first cry.
I remember you well,
twenty-six,
musty smell of the courtroom,
gavel crashing finality.
I remember you well,
twenty-seven
two-year-old on your hip,
new house,
new life,
alone.

[oneblindmouse]

I remember you well.
The special way you said my name,
your voice last heard at 3 am
from a war-torn country,
unchanged after all those years.
Your words, your laughter
my disbelief.
The fierce frightened emails
while bombs fell around you.
Questions unanswered
amidst impotent waiting.
Sufferings shared through the distance
souls laid bare once again.
Your strength carried me
but your body failed you.

I remember you well.

[Albedo of Zero]

I remember you well
when you left this
home begun out of bliss,
when our yard was much more
than mowing
and our faces kept tenderness.

I remember you well...
well, maybe
the news has it that your over me
but remember the cross that you gave me
for its namesake you'll never be free

[Nyna]

The Girl You Used To Be

I remember you well,
a girl with the world at your back,
with history wound in your pockets.

I remember you well,
a girl with your walls always up,
your edges always sharp,
holding an ocean behind your eyes.

I remember you well,
a girl trailing a string of
broken promises,
touching no one at all.

[ddgryphon]

I remember you well,
your deep voice rumbling:
too much whiskey,
too many cigarettes,
each syllable speaking
of some shared sin;
my darkness,
enfolding me in your
songs embrace.

[HeronW]

I remember you well
but only from the photograph
they show me. Sepia-stained
like teeth from not enough
cleaning. My memory is like that
wiping everything, even you
until they show me again
and I laugh and weep.

[Priene]

I remember you well
'Schatz,' you said
'To leave without a kiss
Is ill-advised and cruel.'
A Herrenhausen stroll
You gripped my fingers
As we pulled apart.
I have forgotten tramlines,
Bockwurst under elder shade,
Disintegrating love.
But never you.

[KTC]

I remember you well
from the moment you fell,
made of yourself
a disease.
A leaf in the wind,
and a tear in a spin,
you were close to the ground
and quite empty.
You reached out to me
and you caused me to flee,
I remember
you trying to erase me.
Now I'm sad that you're gone,
but too lonely to see
that you left
before leaving.
Like a leaf in the wind
you were set into spin,
escaping my arms
as you tumbled.
I remember you well,
from the moment you fell,
and it's true--like they say,
I don't think of you
as much as I should,
but I remember you often.

[onestepp]

I remember you well

like a tune out of the past

or a ghost from a wishing-well,

screaming, "These days won't last!"

[AlluraD]

I remember you well

the welcome home
the closing doors

vacumes both
that sucked me
gently in

legs dangle

recollection's edge
smooth beneath my thighs
holds the midday heat
as twilight comes

even now
through all these barren years
I ache for flight-

on slipstreams of hello

and the strident click
of goodbye.

[zarptica]

I remember you well,
You are the shadow that lured me
To the end of the world,
I remember you well,
You are the one that never was
I remember you well,
Until I shared the darkness with you
You were the shadow
I had thought of as my world.

[Teena]

i remember you well

the night we met in
that seedy dive
the spotlights made
my eyes tear
you thought it was
the smoke from your cigar

you rose and offered
me your seat
because the bar was
full of miners coming
off the midnight shift
just like you

dirty hands
dirty words
dirty deeds

i remember you well
your handsome face
black hair and ice
blue eyes
what was your name
again?

[Eliel Takavian]

I remember you well
Order
Obliterated
Blown apart
Rearranged
By the diminutive and helpless
My squalling son
Flawless form
Flailing arms
Smashing Order
Shouting out new rules
Then breaking them

[ddgryphon]

I remember you well
devoted, concerned
caring for others more
than yourself.

That changed.

Your strength decreased.
Your mind began wandering.
Doctors were useless.
"We can't help you," they would
say with their dead fish eyes.

And you faded, like Summer
fading to Fall, fading to Winter.
Spring never returned and your
days became cold and silent.

I remember you well smiling
through the pain. You never
saw me watching, when you
thought you were alone,
and the strain cut a grimace
of agony across your face.

I remember you well:
Sharing your joy;
refusing to share
your descent.

[Angelinity]

I remember.

You -- well, i think
you remember me best as i held your head
in my lap
just before you left.

I remember beseeching the gods to let go
of their strings
and the gods showed no mercy.

Even now they send letters with smiley faces,
pictures of you dying in my arms. i remember.
i remember you well.

[ddgryphon]

i remember you well
loving smile
optimistic heart

where are you?

where are those
traits that shown
on the world in waiting?

if you find them
i will know you

again

[Feiss]

I remember you well
the day my mother dropped me
down your gaping maw.
My head pinged your stony gullet,
and my limbs sloshed
through the toads in your stomach.

I remember you, Well