Two Souls Sat Before Me
Two souls sat before me
One pointed straight and one askew
Well-worn but still some cushion there
Both carried stains and patches new
Then I heard a ticking o’er my head
Not quite above, but to my left
I could not help but feel it rush
A certain sense death
How could I choose but only one
With tolling of the ending bell
Parting is all we know of heaven
And all we need of Hell
— April Resnick
A Pair of Shoes by Vincent van Gogh
This poem is based on Honkadori, a style of 12th century Japanese poetry. It is a practice of including lines (or images) from a classic poem into a new poem, so that the new poem carries with it the same feeling tone of the classic poem.
My poem was inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem, “My life closed twice before my eyes.”
sometimesihatemycat 
your clean lines and controlled cadences, combined with a flair for the succinct visual image, make every line of this poem a joy to read. lovely. tony
Your well timed words give me much needed encouragement. Thank you.
This felt wonderfull to read, you tamed the words and the imagery perfectly and I was swooped away by the ending.
I love that you got that feeling tone from the poem. That makes me call it a success. Thank you so much.