Photo: Laura Purdie Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I was downtown (Minneapolis) for a food truck lunch with Randy recently, and these window cleaners were hard at work. Here’s what they made me think of:
1)?Those circular swing rides at amusement parks
2)?Spies/thieves
3) Rescuers going to help trapped people
And here’s my poem first draft:
I’m Changing
Skin prickles
Silk shoots from wrist
Limbs double and twist
Scale sticky’steel web–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.
84 Responses
Short Cut
Avoiding the crowds that jam the door,
They take the wall to the fourteenth floor.
Apparently I’m feeling somewhat literal today.
How fun. I like your rhyme.
Nice, a very different look at those window washers!
This is great fun, Liz! Nice job from their POV.
Literal worked for you here:>)
Short Cut
Avoiding the crowds that jam the door,
They take the wall to the fourteenth floor.
Apparently I’m feeling somewhat literal today.
How fun. I like your rhyme.
Nice, a very different look at those window washers!
This is great fun, Liz! Nice job from their POV.
Literal worked for you here:>)
City Life
Tempered glass
brushed steel
marble
poured concrete
brick
brownstone
cinder block
lumber
plywood
cardboard box.
© Diane Mayr
I love the way you work your way down to that poignant last line.
And of course, no window washing in that cardboard box. I love the ‘view’ you saw, Diane.
I really like your last line.
Wow! This is great.
Wow. Wow. This list poem is so spare and elegant, and the progression from materially rich down to homeless has real impact.
City Life
Tempered glass
brushed steel
marble
poured concrete
brick
brownstone
cinder block
lumber
plywood
cardboard box.
© Diane Mayr
I love the way you work your way down to that poignant last line.
And of course, no window washing in that cardboard box. I love the ‘view’ you saw, Diane.
I really like your last line.
Wow! This is great.
Wow. Wow. This list poem is so spare and elegant, and the progression from materially rich down to homeless has real impact.
With each step
towards Heaven,
Earthly burdens
fall further
behind.
Awww! This is thought provoking. I like it!
This works on its own, too, but I especially love this with the photo, because then I think of at least two different ways I can think about the poem…
With each step
towards Heaven,
Earthly burdens
fall further
behind.
Awww! This is thought provoking. I like it!
This works on its own, too, but I especially love this with the photo, because then I think of at least two different ways I can think about the poem…
Glass
We try
not to break it.
But glass
is secretly stone.
Glass
lasts.
?Kate Coombs
I love “glass is secretly stone.”
Everyone has a secret…even glass! Nice!
Secretly stone. Love that. I’m always amazed to remember that glass is made from sand…
Me, too! The estimate is that glass will last at least 1,000 years in a landfill, long after everything else has disintegrated. 🙂
Glass
We try
not to break it.
But glass
is secretly stone.
Glass
lasts.
?Kate Coombs
I love “glass is secretly stone.”
Everyone has a secret…even glass! Nice!
Secretly stone. Love that. I’m always amazed to remember that glass is made from sand…
Me, too! The estimate is that glass will last at least 1,000 years in a landfill, long after everything else has disintegrated. 🙂
Job Description
Scaling giants?
That we do.
Perks are paid in thrills
and views.
Andria W. Rosenbaum, all rights reserved
I often wonder if they take the time to take photos from up there? (your mention of views).
Great job description in so few words 🙂
Ha! Love that opening line especially–very attention-getting!
Job Description
Scaling giants?
That we do.
Perks are paid in thrills
and views.
Andria W. Rosenbaum, all rights reserved
I often wonder if they take the time to take photos from up there? (your mention of views).
Great job description in so few words 🙂
Ha! Love that opening line especially–very attention-getting!
Spidey is such a mystery of all the ‘heroes’. “Skin prickles”. It would be interesting to have some secret power like that.
Washing windows
way up high.
I have an art collection
in the clouds? artfully-framed
reflections.
LInda Baie, All Rights Reserved
I love the idea of an art collection in the skies!
Oh, Linda, this is lovely. Not only the poem, but also imagining the window-washer character who would think this way. Love it.
Spidey is such a mystery of all the ‘heroes’. “Skin prickles”. It would be interesting to have some secret power like that.
Washing windows
way up high.
I have an art collection
in the clouds? artfully-framed
reflections.
LInda Baie, All Rights Reserved
I love the idea of an art collection in the skies!
Oh, Linda, this is lovely. Not only the poem, but also imagining the window-washer character who would think this way. Love it.
Your Spiderman poem is just great! Love it!
I will admit up front that I cheated by one word and used the heck out of my hypens! But, hey! I got it done!
Window Washy
Rub-a-dub-dub
guy with a tub
squeegees a smudgy or two.
Polish-spit-shine!
Sparkle divine!
Rub-a-dub?wonderful view!
This is loads of fun to say aloud, Penny!
Like your rhymes!
Your Spiderman poem is just great! Love it!
I will admit up front that I cheated by one word and used the heck out of my hypens! But, hey! I got it done!
Window Washy
Rub-a-dub-dub
guy with a tub
squeegees a smudgy or two.
Polish-spit-shine!
Sparkle divine!
Rub-a-dub?wonderful view!
This is loads of fun to say aloud, Penny!
Like your rhymes!
Following Your Footsteps
Always climbing,
reaching,
never catching up–
someday
I’ll scale skyscrapers
leave you behind.
Can you tell I was the youngest kid in my family? Love your skin prickling change to spiderman, Laura!
Love your title! It is perfect for your poem. Nice!
Yes! I’m the baby of the family, too, Buffy. Love the concreteness of scaling skyscrapers!
I like your voice here, Buffy!
Following Your Footsteps
Always climbing,
reaching,
never catching up–
someday
I’ll scale skyscrapers
leave you behind.
Can you tell I was the youngest kid in my family? Love your skin prickling change to spiderman, Laura!
Love your title! It is perfect for your poem. Nice!
Yes! I’m the baby of the family, too, Buffy. Love the concreteness of scaling skyscrapers!
I like your voice here, Buffy!
It’s hard work
helping corporations
see outside
the box.
Clever!!! Love this.
Ha! Love it!
I love that your voice comes through in everything you write, Diane! Clever, full of passion about social justice…
And you saw outside too!
It’s hard work
helping corporations
see outside
the box.
Clever!!! Love this.
Ha! Love it!
I love that your voice comes through in everything you write, Diane! Clever, full of passion about social justice…
And you saw outside too!
Wall walking-
Better than mall walking.
Act like a spider.
The view is wider!
I don’t know how you do your pithy rhymes every week, Cindyb!
This is great, Cindy. Exactly right!
Wall walking-
Better than mall walking.
Act like a spider.
The view is wider!
I don’t know how you do your pithy rhymes every week, Cindyb!
This is great, Cindy. Exactly right!
NIGHTTIME VISTOR
Fire ants scamper
Up bedsides, ready to give
You a good night kiss.
© Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.
NIGHTTIME VISTOR
Fire ants scamper
Up bedsides, ready to give
You a good night kiss.
© Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.