I wrote my poem, Empty Tin Can, in response to the W3 Weekly Prompt #152, where the Poet-of-the week Anupama Okky challenges us to write a personification poem in no more than 12 lines, and to reimagine objects as emotions. I think my tin can symbolises melancholy due to abandonment—I’d love to know if you agree.
To read the full prompt guidelines click here
Anupama’s prompt guidelines
Challenge: Reimagine emotions as objects;
What if feelings took shape? Anger could be a blade, sharp and biting. Loneliness might be an echo in an empty room;
Poetic form: Any;
Length: No more than 12 lines.
Empty Tin Can
One more slurp, then a shake—
I’m tossed to the ground, I roll, I break.
He kicks me along the cobbled street,
Each hollow “Oof!” resounds his feet.
I try to yell, my voice too thin,
I prattle, a tin that cannot win.
Again I rattle when he kicks me high,
My rhythm a song, as I drift and sigh.
Discarded joy of Pepsi pop,
Empty, unwanted, I land and stop
By the bin, a hushed tin can,
Once a toy, now crushed by man—I’m canned.
Lesley Scoble, March 2025
To find out more about the W3 Prompt, please follow the link below.
LesleyScoble.com 
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