[15 words or less poems] Wispy

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)?A cloud that fell to Earth somehow
2) Baby hair–that soft, fine fluff that defies gravity
3) Cotton candy

And here’s my poem first draft:

Cotton Candy
State Fair’s sweet dreams
shrink to solidity
when?you try to consume them
–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.

60 Responses

  1. A little time away for reflection is always good! Thanks for keeping the Thursday challenge going–it’s the one thing I count on every week (that and being late to work every Thursday morning).

    While The Human’s Away

    The cat
    nibbles
    houseplants
    plucks stuffing
    from armrests
    displaces small
    breakable objects
    in idle play.

    © Diane Mayr

      1. Okay Diane. What’s your secret? How did you do that? You told me a story in this poem. This cat has a history, a present, and a future. This is not a portrait in still life. I think you could take these words and expand then into a picture book. Am I wrong? {}

          1. For me, alas, the opposite. I write big and long. So much more precision goes into 15 words or less. No room or my tendency o chatterbox away. (())

          2. Typos on iPad: meant: “no room FOR my tendency to chatterbox away.” Yuh huh.

  2. A little time away for reflection is always good! Thanks for keeping the Thursday challenge going–it’s the one thing I count on every week (that and being late to work every Thursday morning).

    While The Human’s Away

    The cat
    nibbles
    houseplants
    plucks stuffing
    from armrests
    displaces small
    breakable objects
    in idle play.

    © Diane Mayr

      1. Okay Diane. What’s your secret? How did you do that? You told me a story in this poem. This cat has a history, a present, and a future. This is not a portrait in still life. I think you could take these words and expand then into a picture book. Am I wrong? {}

          1. For me, alas, the opposite. I write big and long. So much more precision goes into 15 words or less. No room or my tendency o chatterbox away. (())

          2. Typos on iPad: meant: “no room FOR my tendency to chatterbox away.” Yuh huh.

  3. after the harvest
    always some stray cotton
    lingers

    I also want to thank you for continuing 15 WOL. One of the things I enjoy most is how you can find something positive to say about every poem. That, and the impressive posts of all the players.
    Best of luck reaching your goals.
    ellie

      1. Minimalism works!
        The image lingers… that soft tuft of cotton left behind.. A sweet reminder that not everything need be needed. Sometimes things are better just for being ‑there-. Like our words. Will we save the world? Who knows? But will they save us? Absolutely.

  4. after the harvest
    always some stray cotton
    lingers

    I also want to thank you for continuing 15 WOL. One of the things I enjoy most is how you can find something positive to say about every poem. That, and the impressive posts of all the players.
    Best of luck reaching your goals.
    ellie

      1. Minimalism works!
        The image lingers… that soft tuft of cotton left behind.. A sweet reminder that not everything need be needed. Sometimes things are better just for being ‑there-. Like our words. Will we save the world? Who knows? But will they save us? Absolutely.

    1. Love this, Kate.

      I’m not bluffing. {}

      This poem is so audible and visual. A panorama of life in 15 words. So nice.

    1. Love this, Kate.

      I’m not bluffing. {}

      This poem is so audible and visual. A panorama of life in 15 words. So nice.

  5. On an early, eerie morning
    hopping up without a warning-
    Ghost Frog!

    Leaves me agog.

    Laura, thank you for keeping Thursdays fun. I love reading everyone’s imagination.

      1. Absolutely great creation. A Ghost Frog. Work with it and see where your story hops.

  6. On an early, eerie morning
    hopping up without a warning-
    Ghost Frog!

    Leaves me agog.

    Laura, thank you for keeping Thursdays fun. I love reading everyone’s imagination.

      1. Absolutely great creation. A Ghost Frog. Work with it and see where your story hops.

  7. After Graduation

    They are seeds
    with silk wings,
    drifting–
    some land in rich soil
    others in concrete.

    Enjoy your time off, Laura–and thanks for giving us our Thursday-fix!

      1. Words that truly hit home. My youngest seed has sprouted and shuffled off to college. I know her future will be happy and rich in poetry and passion and dreams fulfilled. But it all began as one little seed dropped from my hand.

  8. After Graduation

    They are seeds
    with silk wings,
    drifting–
    some land in rich soil
    others in concrete.

    Enjoy your time off, Laura–and thanks for giving us our Thursday-fix!

      1. Words that truly hit home. My youngest seed has sprouted and shuffled off to college. I know her future will be happy and rich in poetry and passion and dreams fulfilled. But it all began as one little seed dropped from my hand.

  9. This Masquerade Was Playing on the Stereo

    Flashback:
    Your young skin,
    sewn into mine.

    Time unravels
    fragile dreams
    I’d hate to
    Forget

    –Pamela Ross

      1. Thank you, Kate. That is so nice of you to say. I wish I could say this one comes straight from the imagination but…ahem ahem. {}

  10. This Masquerade Was Playing on the Stereo

    Flashback:
    Your young skin,
    sewn into mine.

    Time unravels
    fragile dreams
    I’d hate to
    Forget

    –Pamela Ross

      1. Thank you, Kate. That is so nice of you to say. I wish I could say this one comes straight from the imagination but…ahem ahem. {}

  11. LOST

    Somehow?
    I made a wrong turn
    between Heaven and Earth.
    Which way is
    home?
    ? Andria W. Rosenbaum

      1. This is lovely, Andria. Long time no see, no read. I hope you have been well. {}

        –Pamela Ross

  12. LOST

    Somehow?
    I made a wrong turn
    between Heaven and Earth.
    Which way is
    home?
    ? Andria W. Rosenbaum

      1. This is lovely, Andria. Long time no see, no read. I hope you have been well. {}

        –Pamela Ross

  13. One is haiku, one is straight free verse, I can’t decide which one I like more so I’m posting them both. Enjoy!

    COTTON CANDY CREATION
    Papery mounds of
    Spun sugar threads coalesce
    Into pompadour.

    THE CREATION OF COTTON CANDY
    Vertigo begins as papery mounds
    of spun sugar coalesce into
    Pink Pompadours.

    © Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.

  14. One is haiku, one is straight free verse, I can’t decide which one I like more so I’m posting them both. Enjoy!

    COTTON CANDY CREATION
    Papery mounds of
    Spun sugar threads coalesce
    Into pompadour.

    THE CREATION OF COTTON CANDY
    Vertigo begins as papery mounds
    of spun sugar coalesce into
    Pink Pompadours.

    © Charles Waters 2013 all rights reserved.

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