Once in a lifetime, the fog will be kind
to you,
absorbing love laughter and too, pain
like a smokey dragon,
inhaling instead of exhailing,
so much so,
your mind is muddled to a squash,
delicious only if cooked to right consistency, but leaving you
absent of the hunger needed for a repast,
then you realise
without the hunger, the anguish and the longing
for what isn't
you lose nothing.
© gillena cox 2026
Blog Hopping Today With
‘The Window’ by .Mary Jean Chan here
Challenge: Re-read and explore Chan’s poem, particularly the use of line breaks and caesura to build rhythm and evoke emotion, and the three-word movement: “anger is like the sun, which is like love”.
Now write a poem in the first person, beginning with "Once in a lifetime"
AUGUST IS STEELPAN MONTH
HRRE IN T&T🇹🇹


This is wonderful Gillena! I ve been eating a lot of squash this year from the garden and so the line about cooking it to the right consistency resonates with me! Much love and beautiful intrepretation of Kim's prompt!
ReplyDeleteThanks for ypir appreciation, Cara
ReplyDeleteMuch love
Kind fog indeed, Gillena! I’m familiar with that feeling of my mind being muddled to squash – and the leap to cooking squash to the right consistency. I like the three-word movements: love/laughter/pain and hunger/anguish/longing, and the lovely simile, ‘pain like a smoky dragon’.
ReplyDeleteThanks for ypir appreciation, Kim
ReplyDeleteMuch love
It is all a balance, and the cooking of squash is a perfect metaphor for that
ReplyDeleteThanks for your appreciation, Björn
DeleteMuch love
You're right, the hunger inspires us. Like others, I thought the squash metaphor was excellent.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your appreciation, Merril
ReplyDeleteMuch love
It's so philosophical...loved every line.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your appreciation, Sreeja
ReplyDeleteMuch love