P&W Prompt 4 (Originally 6)

Prompt from P&W (and Angelspeak):

Choose a poem that you've written and rewrite it in its reverse, making the last line first, etc. Revise this version, creating a new poem.

So I chose a poem that I wrote in October of 2009. It was about a girl who was "secretly" involved with a guy I very briefly dated. She had a tendency to try to only treat me nicely when there was no one else to talk to and it annoyed me greatly. I was always nice, but found her flaky, shallow tendencies too much for me one day. Here's the original:

You look down upon me

and I wish

I could sit so high in the world

You whisper quiet conversations

enticing him in slowly

with otherwise mundane

complained efforts

You word yourself out

The chip on your shoulder

growing to my eyes

Showing you sheltered privilege 

you talk about money

then brushing it away

and unneeded endowment offered

Only when our eyes meet

do you shrink away, false modesty

your downward sneer again

Your clicking heels 

The hallway echoes widely

it shares my contempt

rejoicing the abating sound

The prompt is to reverse the lines and compose a new poem. Here's the reverse:

Rejoicing the abating sound

it shares my contempt

the hallway echoes widely

your clicking heels

Your downward sneer again

do you shrink away, false modesty

only when our eyes meet

An unneeded endowment offered

then brushing it away

you talk about money

showing your sheltered privilege

Growing to my eyes

the chip on your shoulder

you word yourself out

Complained efforts

with otherwise mundane

enticing him in slowly

you whisper quiet conversations

I could sit so high in the world

and I wish

You look down upon me

Then I revised and rewrote my (now long abandoned) contempt Again it is untitled – suggested titles are welcome. Here is the final product:

I rejoice the abating sound of clicking heels

in the echoing hallways that share my contempt

for your attitude - your presence, one moment

sniveling and sweet, another condescending

Your downward sneer is spotted so

you shrink away, false modesty appearing

in your shoulders, in the arch of your neck

but your eyes flash and give you away

From abroad, an unneeded endowment offered

You brush it away, your talk of money clearly

exhibiting the sheltered privilege

from which you look down at me, at all

Now growing, to my eyes, is the chip

on your shoulder, in conversation

your word yourself out, pretension only

a short stroll from your misused vernacular

Performing your cheap woes, your seduction

no more than mundane complaints, aloof

and apathetic, you try to entice him

with whispered words and quiet conversations

I could sit so high in the world, looking down

such a slender nose at every human connection, 

but I do not find the presence of others

to be abhorrent - just yours. 

As always, comments are welcome.