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 took this picture at a drum corps rehearsal over the summer, and it makes me think of several things:
- Olympic torch
- a sparkler
- a ladder to the moon
This made me think of writing “Laura” or “Happy New Year” (never could finish that one) with sparklers in the air on New Year’s Eve. Standing in the driveway, in the dark, holding light in my hand and making my temporary little mark on the world.
Here’s my first draft.
It’s funny how I complain about light pollution, because I want to see the stars and planets in the sky at night. But there is also a beauty to our electrical presence on earth, especially when you view it from an airplane or in an isolated dose. Somehow I usually want to find the beauty of something in a poem, even if it’s something I don’t generally feel kindly toward. A poem just wants to be a celebration.
It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count)
44 Responses
I do not know where this came from this morning. Just a feeling I have sometimes that keeps my light one, I guess.
I stood alone
as darkness moved in
then remembered
I was the beacon
And shone
Donna, I love this!
Donna, this is beautiful. Like a small prayer-story. Thank you for the reminder. We can all be beacons–and doesn’t the world need beacons right now.
So good to remember that you are the beacon!
Powerful Donna, no matter from whence it came!
very powerful and we all need to remember this at times 🙂
I had this written before I read Donna’s- we were just on the same wave-length this morning.
BE THE ONE
Lift your fire-
higher!
Higher!
Be the one that will
inspire.
Love how you guys have the same theme but totally different moods. This one’s like a cheer–a command of the best kind!
Cindy, the message needs repeating. Hoping to inspire can be difficult at times, but oh the rewards!
Yeah! Get your sparkle on!
very inspirational!
moor wonderful words to inspire 🙂
We are on a roll. Here’s mine:
Every child you meet
has an inner sparkler
waiting
to be lit.
So true!
Margaret, I love this. And lighting that inner sparkler seems so much easier with a child.
The sparklers in kids is why I taught. It’s what makes teaching such an adventure! I like seeing the image this way!
Yes!
Every teacher should read this, Margaret. Such a great reminder of the sacred importance of your job. Lovely!
most definably
poem by Jessica Bigi
beacons
electric energy
flowing through
currents of love
emulating lives
a million waves
smiles hallows
unity
I like the thought of energy flowing as currents of love.
Jessica, I like the comparison of electricity and currents of love.
You have such a nice way with words!
I love “a million waves”
The background of the sky pictures this so well.
Love those currents of love, Jessica :>)
Laura–I love skyscraper sparklers. You all have such a positive vibe! Sorry to be the downer this morning.
Accusation
Like a lit match,
her pointed finger
threatened
to ignite me.
Yes, anger can burn! Your poem makes me think of a finger pointed in accusation or taunting that can bring on the fight.
Brings to mind the witch in The Wizard of Oz!
Liz, the beauty in this format is the ability to see something that touches your inner self. And remember, that finger pointing at you has three pointing back at itself.
Sorry Liz. My finger pointed at the enter key before I was ready. So anonymous I was.
Never apologize! I often love dark or moody or violent poems, and variety/individualism is what we’re going for. What a great metaphor you’ve got going on here, Liz. Thanks for sharing!
Good morning Laura. The texture in the sky beckoned me, Multitudes of people, or so it seems. I gave in to the “light” as opposed to a cheering crowd in a sports arena.
An Answered Call
Straight and tall
I place my call;
in back of my post
a heavenly host.
Didn’t see the sky that way until I read your poem. Nice!
Ah, I see the multitude now!
Ooh, I like this idea of a bunch of angels having my back as I go about daily business.
Summer Screen
rain shrouds windows
like silvery fish scales
arresting a vista
of storms and light
I love your silvery fish scales on the rainy window.
I can definitely see a shrouded, fish scaled window and vista of storms and light. Lovely.
I love looking out windows during a storm, when they’re all smeary like an impressionist painting. Those fish scales! Wonderful.
Wow. Today’s poems are filled with sparkle and sizzle. Sorry I am late with this, but Laura, your hello/goodbye poem from last week was exceptionally memorable.
Here’s mine for today:
down through dusty ages
or across dark miles
poetry shares a light
soul to soul
Thanks, Lauren–never too late for a compliment–hehehe! I love those “dusty ages,” Lauren. Such great specificity:>)
Lauren, you may be late, but I am even later. I am down a little today with pain from yesterday’s dental surgery.
I think that is clouding my mind.
Things will be Better
Beacon of light,
shining so bright,
symbol of hope
in darkness of night.
Oh, dear. Hope you feel better soon, Pat! At least you didn’t think of surgical lights:>)
Miss Communication
The silence is peculiar,
radio noise
fades
to
black,
like desperate smoke signals
without replies
-Pamela Ross
I love the tension in those last two lines, Pamela!