Anonymous poetry archive

OneKidReadThis

← Back to the archive
Visual interpretation of "The real prison": Don't let your power of choice; be consumed by the bitterness

No. 031

October 30, 2024·9 lines·1 min read

The real prison

of what you can't change.

Don't let your power of choice be consumed by the bitterness and frustration of what you can't change. The insidious poison of wrong actions will become the real prison that is far harder to escape.

Continue

Stay in the room a little longer.

Know that it's coming →← What did the man in the black cowboy hat say?

Your reading record

Checking who has held this poem...

Part of your record in the archive.

Sign in if you want your name to stay with the record.

Your shelf

Keep this one close.

Saved on this device. Part of your shelf.

Share this poem

Send the line onward, save the story image, or pass the poem to someone who needs it.

Share on XPinterest image

 

Sign in if you want shares and story actions to carry your name in the archive record.

Delivered by Substack

If this poem stayed with you, the next one will find you.

A quieter way to stay close to the work. One poem at a time.

New poems and explorations

Delivered by Substack.

Open SubstackFollow on Instagram

Listening room

Hear the poem in one breath.

A studio reading for the archive, voiced with care and restraint.

Studio reading
The real prison0:00 / 0:18
Read the original post on Instagram3 likes on Instagram1 comments
Part of a living collection since September 2024.

Reading notes

A way further in

Not the final meaning. Just a closer read, a better question, and a few nearby poems worth opening next.

Pay attention to the shift in the middle. That is often where the poem chooses who it is becoming.

Opening line

Where the door opens.

Don't let your power of choice

Center line

Where the temperature changes.

The insidious poison of wrong

Leaving line

The line to carry out with you.

to escape.

If you came here carrying something

Start here if you are shedding old skin, rebuilding, or trying to become more honest.

Themes in this poem

Selfhood

Good company for the seasons when you can feel your life changing shape under you.

After you read

Stay in the archive a little longer.

If this one stayed with you, keep it. Then either leave a note, keep moving through the archive, or ask the Studio where to go next.

Browse the archiveOpen the Studio

Leave something behind

Notes for Collection No. 31

A guestbook for the poem itself. Leave a response, an image prompt, or an image link if it belongs in the same room.

Prompt seed

Don't let your power of choice

A good note starts where the poem stayed with you.

The reading room

Loading notes...

Every note becomes part of the room's memory.

Say what stayed with you, what it opened up, or what line you are carrying out of the room.

Sign in if you want the room to remember your name.

Recent notes

The reading room

Loading notes...