The Napowrimo.net prompt for Day 21 is one of those I’m not really keen on. The idea is to base the poem on the myth of Narcissus. I made the protagonist of my poem the opposite of Narcissus. The form of my poem is a modified rimas dissolutas. Normally, the corresponding line of each stanza rhymes (though the stanzas themselves do not); here, the first lines do not rhyme.

Sussicran

I am the old man
watching my reflection decay
on the water’s surface

I hate what I see
even the last nymph runs away
rather than look upon this withering face

I know, it’d be easier to leave
but I have no choice but to stay
It would be exactly the same any other place

I cannot pretend—
it doesn’t matter what I say
my Nemesis will never give up the chase

(20 April 2018—posted April 21st)