I did this for the Week 5 Get Messy Prompts, which had ideas for using lines in our work. In this one I drew and colored in with marker lots of circles and ovals and used continuous lines to link each one. The black background makes the circles pop. I also decided - what the heck - to add a photo of me. One of the prompts also suggested that we write a poem about lines.
If I am confronted
I forget my lines
I can’t follow straight lines
My brain doesn’t let me
I want to see in straight lines
But my mind makes loops
And swirls
And meandering sorts of lines
People expect me
to be straight lined
I want to be straight lined
And yet I persistently remain
A curvilinear line
And the lines I draw in the sand
While not straight
Are getting longer
The first part of the poem is about problems I have with thinking straight. Since I suffered several concussions 7-10 years ago, I've been dealing with my thoughts being scattered, being distracted, not being able to read at the level I used to read (though that's improving).
Part 2 obliquely deals with body issues. I have had an eating disorder for years and am obese. Society insists that we conform to a certain standard that I have called "the stick." Tall and thin. Actually, not thin but skinny. I am certainly not that.
It also talks about my tendency to think out of the box, to be able to go off on tangents, to not be tied down to societal standards. Basically being "a curvilinear line" is to be creative.
The last part is about my setting limitations on what I'll allow people to do to me, about no longer being taken advantage of. The line may not be a straight line - because I can't draw a straight line, even with a ruler - but at least it's down there.
