Ekphrastic, Monologue, Phrase Prompt, Poetry, Theme Prompt, Writing Challenge, Writing Prompts

Field Of Fog

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for dVerse Poetics – Once in a
Lifetime. Our host, Kim, invites us to
write a poem beginning with “Once in a
lifetime”, making use of line breaks and
caesura, creating rhythm and emotion.

Kim’s inspiration for this challenge is
“The Window”, a poem by Mary Jean Chan.

Image by Me & Gemini

Once in a lifetime ….
the light comes in at an unbidden slant,
and I no longer feel small.

I stood in the field of fog,
breath caught, hands open,
and thought: joy is like fire,
which is like life, which is like
the first note of a song
I didn’t realize I’d memorized.

Once in a lifetime ….
the body says yes
before the mind can argue ….

so I let it. I let the wind
take what it wanted: my name,
my voice, my need to be right.

What’s left is quieter.
What’s left is mine.

NAR©2026

This is “Once In A Lifetime” by Talking Heads

Poetics: Once in a Lifetime

Everything on the elephant trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicate, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.



25 thoughts on “Field Of Fog”

  2. Just breathe, whispered Cinderella. And she flew on gossamer wings, confidence from her best of friends, and tumbled into a happily-ever-after. Great song, as well. I love the cover by Kermit the Frog, too.

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  8. A beautiful way to start your once in a lifetime poem, Nancy, with light that ‘comes in at an unbidden slant’! I love the three-word movement: fire/life/song, and the simile ‘life… like the first note of a song’. I smiled at the familiar ‘the body says yes before the mind can argue’. And I agree with Ange about balancing vulnerability with immense strength.

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    1. Thanks for these very gracious comments, Kim. This was a delicious challenge; forgive me for poaching your Talking Heads video but it really was the best choice! 😄 “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast”. I love that Congreve quote and always thought how beautiful it would be if we could apply it to our lives by making every new day feel like the beginning of a song. How could people be angry with each other with music filling the air? All you need is love … and music! 🎶

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