Tangled [15 Words or Less Poems]

Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)?

Most of my pics seem to come from airports or planes lately! This one is in O’Hare.

string lights 15wol
Photo: Laura P Salas

This image makes me think of:

  1. Charlotte’s web and her egg sac
  2. Garden parties and fairy lights
  3. How darkness hides so many sins

And, here’s my first draft. 

string-lights-ohare-15wol

 

It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count)

31 Responses

  1. WHEN THE LIGHT COMES ON

    Ideas flit
    inside my head
    ’til they connect
    when I’m in bed.

    1. Oh yes Cindy. Then the ideas disconnect when it’s time to arise. Funny but not.

  2. Another good photo Laura. Art in airports seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

    Harmony

    The sun,
    centered,
    tethered to its
    celestial bodies
    promises
    continuity amid chaos.

    1. Oh, I adore the tether, Martha. Reminds me of Newton’s pondering about a rock on a string swing around being like the planets being held by gravity around the sun. Lovely!

  3. Can’t wait for National Poetry Month, coming right up! The kidlit poetry bloggers always do such fun stuff—and sponsor extra poetry writing workshops.

    Fireflies investigate
    the night,
    drawing lines
    in darkness,
    leaving their names
    behind.

    —Kate Coombs

    1. Kate, I like the image of investigating fireflies. I’ll watch them from a different perspective.

    2. Everything leaves its mark on the world–whether something is beautifying or terrorizing. Love this image, Kate–it makes me think of writing our names in the dark with sparklers on New Year’s Eve:>)

  4. Kite

    accordions of stars
    unfolding wings
    into march skies
    we fly on invisible
    strings of imagination

    Poem By Jessica Bigi

  5. Kite

    Accordions of stars
    Unfolding wings
    Into March skies
    We fly on invisible
    Strings of imagination

    Poem by Jessica Bigi

  6. I love all the takes on this picture — how everyone saw beauty.
    Unfortunately, I saw an ugly room. Bare rafters, torn insulation and tangled wires.
    Thus, I came up with this:

    Interrogation Room

    In atmosphere of gloom,
    the suspect waits
    for impending doom,
    contemplating guilt
    as questions loom.

    1. It just works that way Pat. That’s the beauty of the human mind. I can see it through your eyes!

    2. Love all the OO sounds. Hey, variety is the spice of poetry! It’s not unfortunate at all:>) I also like all the long words, drawing out the anxiety. Nicely done, Pat.

  7. There are some beautiful poems here today, but for some reason, this is what came to my mind.

    Sticking close
    to the rafters,
    Mama light
    takes her babies
    for a walk.

    1. Love that, Ellie–I totally saw Charlotte and her babies–one brief moment together, even though I know it didn’t happen that way:>(

  8. String of lights
    or chapters in life
    Entwined as one
    No beginning, no end

    Eternal

    Anne McKenna

    1. Funny how we think of time as linear, but it really is all entwined. Very nice, Anne!

  9. Are we not all fascinated with the lights at night?
    I know I am.

    Faraway Lights

    Drawn to stars
    Where we might never go,
    But we can bring them closer.

  10. Today I went o a conference about how to help get people out of poverty.My poem is related to it and my faith. It is both sad and hopeful.
    33AD Seder servant,
    betrayed, stripped.
    Sacrificed.
    2016 Conference serves
    neglected, poor
    Determines aid
    Worthwhile,
    hopeful.

    1. Jane, that is just lovely. The first segment is so visceral. I got a physical reaction–goosebumps down my legs! That hardly ever happens. Here’s to working for a better world:>)

  11. I have two for you! Do you have a favorite?

    LOOK UP (NIGHTTIME VIEWING)
    strings of stars pulsate
    against mulberry skies
    tattooing themselves
    into my heart.

    © Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.

    NIGHTTIME VIEWING
    bushels of stars
    scatter our cosmos
    with pulsating winks.

    © Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.

    1. Ooh, tough choice. I like the homespuniness of mulberry skies and also bushels of stars. But I love tattooing themselves. I have a thing for poems using tattoo in the nontraditional meaning. On balance, I have to go with Look Up!

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