Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I think you’ll know right away what this is, but I’m not going to say in case anyone doesn’t know. It’s fun to write poems inspired by an ambiguous image! Here’s what this one makes me think of:
1) A caterpillar toy for babies, where each segment is a different color
2) Pregnant bellies, all lined up in a row
3) Candy
And here’s my poem first draft:
Doctor’s Waiting Room
Why schedule five
pregnant women one
morning?
We wait, uncomfortably
wedged into unsuspecting
non-expecting chairs.
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
What do you think of when you look at this picture? Take any idea and jot down a quick 15 Words or Less poem. Have fun!
64 Responses
Bikini weather is coming.
Time to take the black drapes
off the mirrors.
Made me snort my iced tea, Diane! For some, bikini weather is exactly the time for those black drapes!
Bikini weather is coming.
Time to take the black drapes
off the mirrors.
Made me snort my iced tea, Diane! For some, bikini weather is exactly the time for those black drapes!
Easter morning…
jelly beans in plastic eggs
in cellophane grass
© Diane Mayr
This image completely sums up Easter morning. Our girls are 17 and 20, and this was STILL our Easter morning last month.
Easter morning…
jelly beans in plastic eggs
in cellophane grass
© Diane Mayr
This image completely sums up Easter morning. Our girls are 17 and 20, and this was STILL our Easter morning last month.
Balloons
when grounded
cease to be
rounded.
?Kate Coombs
Love the fun pithiness of this!
Balloons
when grounded
cease to be
rounded.
?Kate Coombs
Love the fun pithiness of this!
Prized delights we all eyed,
Plastic eggs they do hide,
While us kids wait inside.
? Donna L Sadd
Great scene-setting. I’m picturing the kids peeping out the windows:>)
Cool beans, if you could see it then it worked. I’m enjoying your posts immensely, thanks for popping in Laura. :0)
Happy you’re here, Donna!
Prized delights we all eyed,
Plastic eggs they do hide,
While us kids wait inside.
? Donna L Sadd
Great scene-setting. I’m picturing the kids peeping out the windows:>)
Cool beans, if you could see it then it worked. I’m enjoying your posts immensely, thanks for popping in Laura. :0)
Happy you’re here, Donna!
Well, Laura, I thought of pregnant bellies, too, but didn’t go farther as you did. Terrific (or terrifying) to imagine!
What was hidden,
twice revealed
in reflection bold.
Now is the story told?
?Linda Baie, 2013
I like the mystery of this. It feels like a mystery verse out of some novel!
Well, Laura, I thought of pregnant bellies, too, but didn’t go farther as you did. Terrific (or terrifying) to imagine!
What was hidden,
twice revealed
in reflection bold.
Now is the story told?
?Linda Baie, 2013
I like the mystery of this. It feels like a mystery verse out of some novel!
Silly Putty on Sunday Morning
Knead and press
lift and peel
stretch and shape–
Dick Tracy soothed
by sagging jaw.
And I admit to having no idea what these plastic do-hickeys are! But I love the pregnant bodies wedged into non-expectant chairs.
do-hickey is a fun word. I’ve never heard it before.
Yes! Silly Putty on the comics–still fun today, though it’s been several years since I last did that. Love Dick Tracy’s sagging jaw.
Silly Putty on Sunday Morning
Knead and press
lift and peel
stretch and shape–
Dick Tracy soothed
by sagging jaw.
And I admit to having no idea what these plastic do-hickeys are! But I love the pregnant bodies wedged into non-expectant chairs.
do-hickey is a fun word. I’ve never heard it before.
Yes! Silly Putty on the comics–still fun today, though it’s been several years since I last did that. Love Dick Tracy’s sagging jaw.
Poor porcupine
Left flat balloons behind.
Try this plastic kind
To make that pop, pop, popping stop.
Heehee–have you read that picture book? It’s so cute! Love this–great last line:>)
Poor porcupine
Left flat balloons behind.
Try this plastic kind
To make that pop, pop, popping stop.
Heehee–have you read that picture book? It’s so cute! Love this–great last line:>)
Oh I love this, Laura especially your onternal rhyme, wonderful.
The kids waited 1,2,3
for the ferris wheel lights
to say next it’s me.
It does have that carnival look to it! I love the connection!
Oh I love this, Laura especially your onternal rhyme, wonderful.
The kids waited 1,2,3
for the ferris wheel lights
to say next it’s me.
It does have that carnival look to it! I love the connection!
Mirror sings true:
“Easter Bunny is ready
for his close-up,
Mr. DeMille!”
Hop to it!
“Hop to it!” Love it!
Mirror sings true:
“Easter Bunny is ready
for his close-up,
Mr. DeMille!”
Hop to it!
“Hop to it!” Love it!
Reflections of the Half Egg
I felt so,
well,
so semi
before.
Now?
I feel
gloriously,
symmetrically,
elliptically
whole.
Love the voice here. “So semi”–ha!
Reflections of the Half Egg
I felt so,
well,
so semi
before.
Now?
I feel
gloriously,
symmetrically,
elliptically
whole.
Love the voice here. “So semi”–ha!
Baby laughs
And shrieks with joy
Mauling his favorite
Caterpillar toy
Love this picture but have no clue what it is. 🙂 always love the way babies so innocently break and shred things, which inspired this poem.
Love the juxtaposition of baby/joy/mauling:>)
Baby laughs
And shrieks with joy
Mauling his favorite
Caterpillar toy
Love this picture but have no clue what it is. 🙂 always love the way babies so innocently break and shred things, which inspired this poem.
Love the juxtaposition of baby/joy/mauling:>)
Hard hats hang
Waiting for workers
To finish the playground…
Please hurry!
Love this connection! So fun to see where poets go with these images!
Hard hats hang
Waiting for workers
To finish the playground…
Please hurry!
Love this connection! So fun to see where poets go with these images!
Plastic eggs
Hang to dry.
Maybe next year
The chocolate won’t melt.
Oh, I hope not! Here in Minnesota, freezing is the issue with Easter candy, not melting. And one year, we put the eggs out the night before, and creatures had gotten to some of them, opened them, and scurried off with the candy! Thanks for playing 15 Words or Less!
Plastic eggs
Hang to dry.
Maybe next year
The chocolate won’t melt.
Oh, I hope not! Here in Minnesota, freezing is the issue with Easter candy, not melting. And one year, we put the eggs out the night before, and creatures had gotten to some of them, opened them, and scurried off with the candy! Thanks for playing 15 Words or Less!
IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST
Dangling by shredded wire
Traffic lights pulsate
During thunderstorm.
© Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
Great image–it’s always scary when a storm is powerful enough to down (or almost down) the traffic lights. Or even when the wind is just so strong that the light posts are waving up and down. I like “pulsate” in here…
IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST
Dangling by shredded wire
Traffic lights pulsate
During thunderstorm.
© Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
Great image–it’s always scary when a storm is powerful enough to down (or almost down) the traffic lights. Or even when the wind is just so strong that the light posts are waving up and down. I like “pulsate” in here…