Published by

David Wesley Woolverton

Read time: 1 min.

Continuing with the speaker from “It’s Nothing“

In a bright alleyway
someone pressed a stake to my back.
I struck their skull with my cane;
and felt the crack in my cranium.
I collapsed into them,
my head at their neck.
My fangs found their jugular;
I tasted no blood,
but felt the stabs in my throat.

As I reeled sideways,
my assailant mimicked my actions.
His right half grew out of my left half,
away from the light source.

I felt around for my wounds.
My neck didn’t have punctures;
I found my skull still intact.
Everything blurred but my victim
whining beside me.

Now I looked, I could see
he had no color but red,
trickling out of his neck
down his two-dimensional body.
Fractures of light marred his head.

In my voice but gruffer, said he,
“You can’t heal yourself
without healing me”

3 responses to “Shadowboxing”

To Bollingen’s Alchemist, Thanks – Semi-Random Reflections

May 2, 2025

[…] Continuing with the speaker from “Shadowboxing.“ […]

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Amy Verderber

May 5, 2025

I love the symbolism here – we have to heal the shadowy parts of ourselves to keep them from attacking us.

Is there a specific syntax or structure you follow when writing poetry? I always wonder if it’s something that just happens, or if you’re making it happen to fit a specific category. I don’t have a degree in creative writing, so apologies if that’s a stupid question.

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1. David Wesley Woolverton
  
  May 5, 2025
  
  Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
  
  That’s not a stupid question at all! There’s no one set syntax or structure I consistently follow when writting poetry. A lot of my poetry is free verse, so the only “rules” are trying to make the words sound natural when read aloud and deciding what line breaks might have the most impact. In those cases, the structure and syntax are just trying to match the poem’s meaning. That might start to involve deliberate rhyme schemes or not depending on the tone I want the poem to have. Sometimes, though, inspiration does strike to use a certain structure and then I try harder to “make” the form happen. Like one time I got inspired by the Fibonacci Sequence so I worked to make the syllable count of each line follow the sequence. If I’m writing a response to someone else’s poem (like a tribute to Robert Frost), sometimes I try harder to match their form and style. I really only pay attention to the “rules” of pre-existing poetic categories if I’m looking for a creative challenge or think my content lies within the realm of a certain category. On those occasions I consult a list of forms (https://poemanalysis.com/poetic-form/) and then the structure and syntax do become very deliberate.
  
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I’m David

I’m a full time Instructional Systems Designer and a free time Creative Writer. I hold a PhD in instructional design and development, an MA in writing, and a BA in writing and theology. My current creative focus is on honoring nature and our connection to our environment. My pronouns are he/they.