PRINCIPALITIES

Much peace. On the last day of National Poetry Writing Month, the prompt is:

In his poem, “Angels,” Russell Edson speaks of these spiritual warrior-messenger-guardians as if they were a type of endangered animal. Brief as it is, the poem is disorienting in its use of flattened diction, odd similes, and elliptical statements. Today, try writing your own poem that discusses a real or mythical being or profession (demons, firefighters, demonic firefighters) with the same sort of musing yet dispassionate tone.

Here is my poem:

PRINCIPALITIES

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2026

They run the school;

if you fight against them,

to the front office you go.

Their secretary calls your flesh and blood,

then sends you to detention,

where there’s nothing to do

except blow spitballs,

sit and sketch breast-

plates of righteousness.

Who in the hell

is actually righteous?

And they keep a strict dress code:

No hats or helmets of salvation allowed.

No swords or armour

unless you’re a school shooter.

In addition:

No peace, no prayer, only spiritual war.

Wickedness from down in the sub-basement

up to the 13th floor.

And you must stay put until your dad comes

to save you once more.