Torn between two – as such is the conscience;
Echo: Constant
It acts like a watchman – alert and cautious.
Echo: Process
Faith and prejudice have something in common;
Echo: Often
Soon regain thought at reason’s denouement.
Echo: Debarment.
The heart is conflicted – faced with a choice;
Echo: Voice
To reason with sorrow or dance with rejoice.
Echo: Hoist
Memories of greed come forth in flashes;
Echo: Ashes
Hours have passed since we emptied our glasses.
Echo: Lasses
Through night or light – be watchful of your steps;
Echo: Prep
Shun the temptation – which has slowly forth crept.
Echo: Sap
“Every man’s island, Jean Louise, every man’s watchman, is his conscience. There is no such thing as a collective conscious.” –Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman
Photo Credits: www.goodfon.su
Posted for Poetics @ dVerse Poets Pub
and on Tuesday Platform @ Real Toads
Several really great lines. I think our conscience can be a watch man. I wish more people listened. It is a choice you know. The faith and prejudice line though is the winner today.
Hello X,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
I have used echo verse several times since we used it for a dVerse prompt, but today it is back to the Haibun, done my way; no echoes. Yours is a very effective use of the form, serving the prompt today. I like the lines /memories of greed come forth in flashes/Echo: Ashes./.
Hello Glenn,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Interesting take on the prompt! I think we’re often conflicted when we don’t listen to our conscience. Does there need to be collective conscience for society to function harmoniously? You have me wondering…
Hello Lynn,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
I like the advice of being watchful of our steps ~ I also like this part of our conscience:
It acts like a watchman – alert and cautious.
Thanks for the echo verse Sanaa ~
Hello Grace,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
I love that you wrote this as an echo poem. That play, struggle with conscience is part of life, but, I believe so important. Sometimes it feels to me that conscience is lacking in our society.
Hello Victoria,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
Excellent echo poem really! You have shown both sides; and often times it seems the ‘watchman’ sees both. The heart must find its way…and decide.
Hello Mary,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
This made me think of that movie where the actor has two little figures sitting on his shoulders – one says this – the other this and it’s up to him to decide which one to follow.
Hello Claudia,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Oh yes, this is how I would like the watchman to be. We have to keep watching all the time. The echo working as that inner voice..
Hello Bjorn,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Great echo alerts Sanaa! It gets the rhythmic juices working in that particular direction.
Hank
Hello Hank,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Hmm.. for hundreds of thousands of years
allwHere humans lead lives of skin to skin
survival.. huddling for warmth
as mammals in frosty nights..
and sweating naked
around fires
cooking food
of day.. there
is no question if
collective
human
consciousness
exists tHere then
as this YeS NoW
is the inherent
way all social
animals
cooperate
for survival
ALLNatURaLLy
when tHey tRuly
connect in flesh and blood
ways.. now illusions of books
and screens of scream take
this away but when humans
need each other for SURVIVAL
the conscious
is group
and
never
lives alone..
i dance to connect
in flesh and blood life..
ink is ashes of meaning
but only goes
above
skin
deep..
i suppose some folks
in our modern cultures
lose almost
all perspective
of this..
and that my
friend is the
apocalypse of
hell already here
in living feat..
i dance
instead
with
toes
that
bleed..;)
Oh by the way..
nice poem..
and Lots
of Love friend..
with the group
conciousness
thingy.. as
virtual
stuff
never matching
the real flesh
and blood
dance
of
Life that is
never soloALONE
BUtTALLONE..:)
Hello Katie,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Excellent take on the prompt. Our conscience is our watchman, but we have to listen to know right from wrong, and what is the best choice. Peace, Linda
Hello Linda,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
I like the format with the accentuated single words. Good advice to shun the temptation which does slowly creep in 🙂
Hello Justjoyfulness,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
Love the line “The heart is conflicted – faced with a choice” I think that too often, we do face a conflict between what is right and what we want.
Hello Bryan,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great weekend.
I agree. It is a conflict because we can ‘train’ our conscience – it isn’t always the watchman we need. Wonderful echo
Hello Debi,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
Great lines!!
Hello Sreejha,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
I like the form of statment and echo, it’s quite effective. I also have ‘Go Set a Watchman’ on my list to read. I wonder what you thought of it.
Hello Mary,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, lots of love 😀
PS: It was really gripping.. you’ll love it 🙂
I rather like that quote about individual conscience, and your echo poem does justice by it’s resonance
Thanks for dropping in and linking to Monday WRites today
Much love…
Hello Gillena,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, lots of love 😀
xoxo
My conscience has always been a very active watchman. I am grateful.
Hello Annie,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
nice – I really dig the format.
The echoes really anchor the poem.
Hello Brother Ollie,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Oh I like how this was constructed-the thought, the echo–really well done
Hello Audrey,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, lots of love 😀
xoxo
Love the penultimate stanza. I kept repeating, “Ashes. Ashes. Ashes…” in my head. ♥
Hello Magaly,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 😀
Highly appreciated, lots of love 🙂
xoxo
Am not a big fan of the Echo form, but I enjoyed your beautiful lines. Shunning temptation is not as easy as it seems though!
Hello Thotpurge,
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, have a great week ahead.
Conscience is packed away in the drawer when self interest is involved.
Hello Cressida,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, lots of love 😀
xoxo
Have a good Tuesday Sanaa. Enjoyed reading this poem again
Much love…
Hello Gillena,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, lots of love 😀
xoxo
Hmmm, this is interesting and that quote from Harper Lee very intriguing. I haven’t read that book yet… maybe…
Hello Marian,
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it 🙂
Highly appreciated, lots of love 😀
xoxo