365 Q&A #23: Let's Get Complex

Another day, another prompt where I tap into the world of Edgar Allan Poe. If you haven't figured this out by now, Edgar is my biggest inspiration. The man is a legend and one of the greatest writers of all time. I aspire to create worlds and characters as developed, unique and interesting as his.

Now I'll stop myself before I go off on a longer tangent. Today's writing prompt asked the following:

Select a line from a poem that feels obtuse or hard to understand and make it the first line of your own poem. Enjoy the catharsis that comes from forcing it to make sense in a context under your control.

It took me quite some time to find a poem with a line that I had difficulty understanding. After an hour or so of reading poetry from writers other than Edgar Allan Poe, I eventually made my way back to his work. I ended up choosing a line from his poem A Dream. I even challenged myself to try and write in Poe's writing style. Something that proved to be rather difficult.

What is not a dream by day to him whose eyes are cast on things around him with a ray turned back upon the past? Her scent still lingering on her clothes. The wind carrying to the tune of her hums. As I stare at her picture I wonder: Am I awake or still dreaming? Is it her that I am seeing. My mind grasping at the memory of my beloved as my hand reaches out to touch her. She disappears just as quickly as she came. Her memory a flickering candle burning in the back of my brain.