[15 words or less poems] To the Sky Light

15 Words or Less Poems


Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!

I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>)

Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of:

1)?The incredibly strong weeds in my yard!
2)?Medusa’s hair
3) An alien flame

And here’s my poem first draft:

Flicker
Cold flames wave
and twine,
licking starshine,
drinking night
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

What do you think of when you look at this picture? Take any quick idea and jot down a 15 Words or Less poem. It doesn’t have to rhyme or describe this picture. It’s just about whatever you think of when you look at it.

68 Responses

  1. “wave and twine, licking starshine” Love it, Laura. Here’s mine:

    Under Crystal-Clear Skies

    Glass leaves
    on viscous stems
    bend
    in warm breezes.

    1. Funny, but glass seems to hard and smooth that I hadn’t thought of them as bendy and viscous, but the gleam works, and now I can see it!

  2. “wave and twine, licking starshine” Love it, Laura. Here’s mine:

    Under Crystal-Clear Skies

    Glass leaves
    on viscous stems
    bend
    in warm breezes.

    1. Funny, but glass seems to hard and smooth that I hadn’t thought of them as bendy and viscous, but the gleam works, and now I can see it!

  3. Beautiful poem, Laura.

    They soon renamed the Coral Reef
    Ice Reef
    as soon as the photographer
    defrosted

  4. Beautiful poem, Laura.

    They soon renamed the Coral Reef
    Ice Reef
    as soon as the photographer
    defrosted

      1. Thanks, guys! I wasn’t specifically thinking of this, but have you read Robin McKinley’s book, The Blue Sword? Very good in a swashbuckling way. Plus magic.

      1. Thanks, guys! I wasn’t specifically thinking of this, but have you read Robin McKinley’s book, The Blue Sword? Very good in a swashbuckling way. Plus magic.

  5. Cold flames wave–great first line!

    The way glass-blowers work–pulling the molten glass into shapes like the above, reminds me of the bars of Turkish taffy I used to get when I was a kid (late 50s, early 60s). The commercials (see one here: http://youtu.be/abuMyirUpcQ ) always had the kids snapping a bar into pieces, but I must have had very warm hands that made the candy soft and pull-able. In those days I spent Saturdays with all the other kids at the movies. Believe it or not, admission was 25 cents, and kids attended without adults.

    Saturday Matinee

    In the dark
    Vincent Price’s
    “Tales of Terror”
    banana-flavored
    Bonomo’s stuck
    to my teeth.

    © Diane Mayr

  6. Cold flames wave–great first line!

    The way glass-blowers work–pulling the molten glass into shapes like the above, reminds me of the bars of Turkish taffy I used to get when I was a kid (late 50s, early 60s). The commercials (see one here: http://youtu.be/abuMyirUpcQ ) always had the kids snapping a bar into pieces, but I must have had very warm hands that made the candy soft and pull-able. In those days I spent Saturdays with all the other kids at the movies. Believe it or not, admission was 25 cents, and kids attended without adults.

    Saturday Matinee

    In the dark
    Vincent Price’s
    “Tales of Terror”
    banana-flavored
    Bonomo’s stuck
    to my teeth.

    © Diane Mayr

  7. Love your poem, Laura! Mine is a little…different.

    RUN FOR YOUR LIVES

    Rising tall from beneath the sea?
    Omigoodness?what can it be?
    Giant slugs from Dimension Z!

    - ? 2013, Matt Forrest Esenwine

  8. Love your poem, Laura! Mine is a little…different.

    RUN FOR YOUR LIVES

    Rising tall from beneath the sea?
    Omigoodness?what can it be?
    Giant slugs from Dimension Z!

    - ? 2013, Matt Forrest Esenwine

  9. Your poem is beautiful, Laura. Enjoying all the creativity here today :?)

    Latest-style in dancing slippers?
    Midnight-ballroom, princess-grippers.
    Enterprising prince…so smart,
    Saves some time AND wins her heart!!
    ~Penny Klostermann

    1. Glass slippers–what a wonderful metaphor for this image! I especially like “princess-grippers,” both all on its own and as a rhyme for “dancing slippers.”

  10. Your poem is beautiful, Laura. Enjoying all the creativity here today :?)

    Latest-style in dancing slippers?
    Midnight-ballroom, princess-grippers.
    Enterprising prince…so smart,
    Saves some time AND wins her heart!!
    ~Penny Klostermann

    1. Glass slippers–what a wonderful metaphor for this image! I especially like “princess-grippers,” both all on its own and as a rhyme for “dancing slippers.”

  11. Twisting, twining
    Stretching, pining
    Slowly growing
    Reaching, glowing
    From the sea floor
    To the sun

  12. Twisting, twining
    Stretching, pining
    Slowly growing
    Reaching, glowing
    From the sea floor
    To the sun

  13. UNDER COVER

    Smooth, slippery eels
    slither.. slide …snake…
    between thick reeds
    stalking prey like secret agents.

    © Andria W. Rosenbaum

  14. UNDER COVER

    Smooth, slippery eels
    slither.. slide …snake…
    between thick reeds
    stalking prey like secret agents.

    © Andria W. Rosenbaum

  15. IN THE CHURCH NURSERY

    Arms reach half-heartedly.
    Sad eyes of blue.
    Clearly she’s saying,
    “Not Mom, but you’ll do.”

    Laura, saw your poem yesterday on YourDailyPoem.com!

  16. IN THE CHURCH NURSERY

    Arms reach half-heartedly.
    Sad eyes of blue.
    Clearly she’s saying,
    “Not Mom, but you’ll do.”

    Laura, saw your poem yesterday on YourDailyPoem.com!

  17. Chihuly
    your dreams seep out
    to blend and grow and bleed
    and multiply–
    with mine.

        1. Had to look him up–I can picture the transformation/sequence from creator’s idea to creator’s reality to the mind of another creator whose dreams are calling back.

  18. Chihuly
    your dreams seep out
    to blend and grow and bleed
    and multiply–
    with mine.

        1. Had to look him up–I can picture the transformation/sequence from creator’s idea to creator’s reality to the mind of another creator whose dreams are calling back.

  19. MISDIRECTION
    Medusa’s
    Burnished
    Cerulean
    hair
    Distracts
    You
    from
    Her
    lethal
    S t a r e …
    Beware.

    © Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.

  20. MISDIRECTION
    Medusa’s
    Burnished
    Cerulean
    hair
    Distracts
    You
    from
    Her
    lethal
    S t a r e …
    Beware.

    © Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.

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