Word association

The daily challenges seem to be more and more challenging! Today, we are prompted to 'find a very specific, concrete noun' in one of our favourite poems. After we've chosen our word, we're prompted to free-write a few associations. We're then to use the original word and the results of our free-writing as the building blocks of an original poem. 

I chose the use the noun 'beggars' from a much loved, heart-rending poem, Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen. I've used a bold font to highlight the words I've associated with 'beggars'.

How dare we

How dare we assume

To know of your struggle,

Your worries and fears,

When our hole-less socks match

And you don't even have shoes

Your bare feet and cracked lips

Merely ask for bread and milk,

Yet we say no;

We walk passed

Without even acknowledging you

Your skinny fingers

Hold your rusted tin;

It shakes from the cold for change

To cure your hunger and your thirst

But we only see your thin cardboard box

And you dirty clothes;

Your crooked teeth

And bulging eyes

We don't stop

And consider your loneliness,

Or your safety on the street

How dare we only give you change,

When we should change the world for you.

Andrea Vermaak