Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.
I often use filters, but this pic of the thin layer of ice on our street (which I was sliding around on while walking Jack), didn’t want one:>) This image makes me think of several things:
- dragonflies caught in a sudden freeze
- the Snow Queen
- a botched glass-etching craft
And here’s my first draft.
It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)
44 Responses
Each every edge
Cuts right cuts left
Until our center
is lost to theft
Stop thief, STOP!
© Linda Mitchell
I’ve added it with the graphic on my blog.
A battle cry! Sigh. :>(
This past summer I visited Tanzania, Africa. There we toured an art center for the handicapped. I remember watching the glass blower.
Glass Blower
Trial after trial
blow, bend, break
a mosaic of mistakes.
Oh, what a gorgeous last line. Making art even of our errors. Isn’t that what life is all about. Lovely, Margaret!
A “mosaic of mistakes”—what a beautiful way to describe glass blowing, and also life.
“Mosaic of mistakes”! This is really full of meaming to ponder!
This reminds me of my picture window and the way it looks between washings! We have a very nosy, noisy yellow lab.…
Time to Wash the Windows
Dog’s nose composed
On window’s pane;
Her words imposed
On my view of rain.
©Donna JT Smith
Oh! I LOVE this Donna.
Love the rhyme and near rhyme, Donna! Imposed is just right! And this makes me think of how disgusting Jack makes our car windows. He gets very anxious.
These are all so lovely.
I’ll try a d r a f t, Laura, thanks!
: Jan
At the Library, Wednesday Night
Two writers meet
we moan, groan
A vow,
our progressive
actions can gain traction
c. 2017 JanGodownAnnino
Love your use of internal rhyme, Jan. And the fact that you name them as writers, not just any old people, hints at the actions they can take. Nicely done!
Laura, dragonflies and their gossamer wings; sad yet lovely. My verse is a result of procrastination, big time!
It’s Time
No excuses
delay no more
soap scum gone
BEHOLD!
lovely etched shower door.
Heehee. A reward for cleaning–new appreciation of what was buried under there:>)
I’m loving all the different takes on this prompt, but especially those dragonfly wings, Laura. To me, it looked like some kind of mystical, ancient writing—like elvish hieroglyphs perhaps? I don’t know, sometimes I’m more abstract than even I know how to deal with. 😉
ETCHINGS
ancient memory
frozen in time—
I shield my eyes from the sun
But what a glorious moment. It makes me picture an archaeologist standing near the pyramids and coming to some huge realization–some earth-shattering, mind-blowing realization. (In my mind, the memory is in the “I” person’s head, not in the actual writing. That’s just where the poem took me.)
Those elvish hieroglyphs might be an “ancient memory”!
The picture and poems are awesome today and all so different. Here’s mine — the interruption could be anything.
Words linking
in my mind
with crystal clarity.
Phone rings.
New poem shatters
into pieces.
Hahaha–oh, how I recognize this moment. Love the crystal reference:>)
Yes, oh, so true — or the dog barking, my husband entering the room…all thought shattering to my writing!
From a distance
strong, solid ice
Under the microscope
delicate, fractured glass.
Lovely–what we see isn’t always the truth.
Loved my microscope as a child. So many things to see that “aren’t there” until close up viewing.
I want to make one of Margaret’s “mosaic of mistakes” from all these poem shards!
Your comment about dragon flies really got me going.…
Dragonflies in Ice
sugar-coated double
wings feather into
an escher-like
labyrinth
where I want
to get lost.
So much beautiful language in here! Love the sugar-coated and the use of feather as a verb. Do you know Grasshopper Glacier? Not nearly as beautiful as your poem, but it came to mind as I was writing mine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_Glacier_(Montana)
Laura–I’d love to see these photos (and poems?) on Instagram! Your photos are so evocative!
I just started using Instagram yesterday (well, aside from a few photos from a couple of years ago!). I’ll have to see how to hook up my blog to my Instagram account. Thanks for the nudge, Kortney!
Woot! Just found you over there! I didn’t mean to add to your work load.….but these short form poems and striking images are just made to shine at Instagram. 🙂
No worries. You are absolutely right! I just have to figure out how to do it more automagically. I’m trying to make my social media easier, not more complicated, so starting up Instagram was pry not the best move. But I’m going to give it a try for a month or so and see what I think!
Love “automagically”! Perfect!
:>)
Love this photo and everyone’s different takes on it. And special thanks to Jack for getting you outside to notice and photograph!
The bonds that link us–
strong as steel
or easy to shatter,
filigrees of ice.
Ooh, lovely. And true. Our world and relationships are so strong and fragile at the same time. And bonus points for using filigrees without the word lacy. :>)
What a great set up poems!
I’ve been working on some dark poems lately, and that seems to have carried over into what I could manage with this image in 5 minutes.
FEAR
Little red riding hood
turns into ice so she can hide
unseen in the forest.
Ooh, I like how surreal this is. I have two sets of poems I want to write right this minute (but can’t), and one set is very dark, and the other set is juat a little…southern goth, maybe? Not too dark, but with an undercurrent. This one gave me chills!
The turning to ice gave you “chills”? Pun intended?
ACCIDENT
How I wish
my mother’s dish
hadn’t shattered,
pieces scattered
everywhere.
Beyond repair.
Oh. Dear. I love how final that last line is. Short. To the point. It’s over.
This photo is one of your best, Laura. And I can relate, with all the snow we’ve been having this winter!
glass hands
holding glass hands
fragile world
of hope and trust
—Kate Coombs
Thanks, Kate! What a cool image, because glass seems unbendable, and holding hands requires constant bending and adjusting. Lovely analogy.
Sorry I’ve missed a few Thurdays I was felling sad about the loss of my Cat Jazzy I’m doing beater now Have a new Cat friend Mikah how is 9 and love atencion
I love the pic today I’ll be jouning back in now xxxx
Poem by Jessica Bigi
Flurries of feathered
wings fly in flurry
over castells of
crystal-birches
in a swelling
fluttering furry
of a fairytale
frenzy
Jessica, hi there. So sorry about Jazzy. Not fair. But this fanciful tribute to the great letter f is so fun. — Jan
Hi Jessica–welcome back! Losing a pet is so very hard. Oh, I love your alliteration here, and the scene it paints for me. Nice choice to break up all the /f/ sounds with castles of crystal birches, too. A gorgeous image!
SKATING SKID MARKS
On this frozen canvass
icy hieroglyphics
wait to be erased
like an after-school
blackboard.
© Charles Waters 2017 all rights reserved.