[15 words or less poems] Spidey?


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

  1. Short Cut

    Avoiding the crowds that jam the door,
    They take the wall to the fourteenth floor.

    Apparently I’m feeling somewhat literal today.

  2. Short Cut

    Avoiding the crowds that jam the door,
    They take the wall to the fourteenth floor.

    Apparently I’m feeling somewhat literal today.

  3. City Life

    Tempered glass
    brushed steel
    marble

    poured concrete
    brick
    brownstone

    cinder block
    lumber
    plywood

    cardboard box.

    © Diane Mayr

    1. Wow. Wow. This list poem is so spare and elegant, and the progression from materially rich down to homeless has real impact.

  4. City Life

    Tempered glass
    brushed steel
    marble

    poured concrete
    brick
    brownstone

    cinder block
    lumber
    plywood

    cardboard box.

    © Diane Mayr

    1. Wow. Wow. This list poem is so spare and elegant, and the progression from materially rich down to homeless has real impact.

    1. 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…

    1. 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…

      1. Me, too! The estimate is that glass will last at least 1,000 years in a landfill, long after everything else has disintegrated. 🙂

      1. Me, too! The estimate is that glass will last at least 1,000 years in a landfill, long after everything else has disintegrated. 🙂

  5. Job Description

    Scaling giants?
    That we do.
    Perks are paid in thrills
    and views.

    Andria W. Rosenbaum, all rights reserved

  6. Job Description

    Scaling giants?
    That we do.
    Perks are paid in thrills
    and views.

    Andria W. Rosenbaum, all rights reserved

  7. 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

    1. Oh, Linda, this is lovely. Not only the poem, but also imagining the window-washer character who would think this way. Love it.

  8. 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

    1. Oh, Linda, this is lovely. Not only the poem, but also imagining the window-washer character who would think this way. Love it.

  9. 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!

  10. 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!

  11. 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!

  12. 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!

    1. I love that your voice comes through in everything you write, Diane! Clever, full of passion about social justice…

    1. I love that your voice comes through in everything you write, Diane! Clever, full of passion about social justice…

  13. Wall walking-
    Better than mall walking.
    Act like a spider.
    The view is wider!

  14. Wall walking-
    Better than mall walking.
    Act like a spider.
    The view is wider!

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