Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
For Christmas, we gave our nephew a glow in the dark ant farm, and the ants finally arrived last month during a “warm spell” (aka above freezing). Nifty!?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of:
1)??the contrails from jets
2)??an underwater fireworks show
3)? the Challenger explosion, which I watched in person as a college student
And here’s my?first draft.
Poseidon’s Fireworks
rockets burst:
inky coral blooms
cheerful torpedoes
rip seas apart
merfamilies gaze
toward their sky
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Now it’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS!??(Title doesn’t count toward word count:>)??
P.S. I’m teaching at a Young Authors Conference all day today, so I won’t be able to comment on poems. But I’ll read them all on my phone during lunch:>)
72 Responses
Surprise
Fingers of light
Feel through the deep
To the homes of merpeople-
WHAT’S THAT??? EEP!!!!
I liked your use of merfamilies, Laura! I had to steal it 🙂 Cool picture, though I was surprised it was an ant farm! It looks too pretty 😉
Merfamilies and Merpeople — what fun words.
Surprise
Fingers of light
Feel through the deep
To the homes of merpeople-
WHAT’S THAT??? EEP!!!!
I liked your use of merfamilies, Laura! I had to steal it 🙂 Cool picture, though I was surprised it was an ant farm! It looks too pretty 😉
Merfamilies and Merpeople — what fun words.
Ghost crustacean of the sea,
glad you’re caught-
now can’t catch me!
I like the lightness in your poem. Smiles.
Ghost crustacean of the sea,
glad you’re caught-
now can’t catch me!
I like the lightness in your poem. Smiles.
Tendrils of light
radiate in deep azure;
ocean mother calls me
to an unknown path.
– Margaret Simon
Tendrils of light
radiate in deep azure;
ocean mother calls me
to an unknown path.
– Margaret Simon
I saw chimney smoke in the photo.
one by one
the neighbors come home
winter dusk
Diane Mayr, all rights reserved
I can visualize the lights against the white snow. It does produce a blue hue.
I like the different ideas that people come up with.
Yes, the picture could remind one of smoke in winter dusk.
Nice.
I saw chimney smoke in the photo.
one by one
the neighbors come home
winter dusk
Diane Mayr, all rights reserved
I can visualize the lights against the white snow. It does produce a blue hue.
I like the different ideas that people come up with.
Yes, the picture could remind one of smoke in winter dusk.
Nice.
Last night I watched a Nova show on Venom. Fascinating! I went to bed with images in my head. Now this picture looks just like one of those images of toxins, having been treated with fluorescent dye. I just had to write about that.
Searching for Anti-venom
Through the microscope
scientist observes venom
hoping to save lives.
Last night I watched a Nova show on Venom. Fascinating! I went to bed with images in my head. Now this picture looks just like one of those images of toxins, having been treated with fluorescent dye. I just had to write about that.
Searching for Anti-venom
Through the microscope
scientist observes venom
hoping to save lives.
Ants
People say
ants can?t write
but they left me
blue messages
last night.
?Kate Coombs
I like the blue messages makes me think if making pic with light brights
“Blue messages” makes me so curious–I want to read what those ants wrote!
Ditto to what the others said. I like those “blue messages” too.
Ants
People say
ants can?t write
but they left me
blue messages
last night.
?Kate Coombs
I like the blue messages makes me think if making pic with light brights
“Blue messages” makes me so curious–I want to read what those ants wrote!
Ditto to what the others said. I like those “blue messages” too.
Laura, I love the term “merfamilies.”
Underwater Ballet
Dancers twirl, leap, bend,
pushing water aside
for the perfect
pli?, turnout, arabesque;
fluid motion.
I like the image of dancing
Fluid motion is a terrific last line–also love the action of pushing water aside.
Nice word choices to show movement.
Laura, I love the term “merfamilies.”
Underwater Ballet
Dancers twirl, leap, bend,
pushing water aside
for the perfect
pli?, turnout, arabesque;
fluid motion.
I like the image of dancing
Fluid motion is a terrific last line–also love the action of pushing water aside.
Nice word choices to show movement.
SPACE WALK
One tenuous tether
links me to life,
floating through cerulean,
dancing over Earth.
Andria W. Rosenbaum/all rights reserved
I love this
love the image and sound of floating through cerulean.
Ah, yes. The movie Gravity!
SPACE WALK
One tenuous tether
links me to life,
floating through cerulean,
dancing over Earth.
Andria W. Rosenbaum/all rights reserved
I love this
love the image and sound of floating through cerulean.
Ah, yes. The movie Gravity!
Photo flashes
Acid rains from sky
White lights
White carbon writing
In the sky
we breath
Reminds me of lighting
Fire flies
Stars
Life in the ocean
Photo flashes
Acid rains from sky
White lights
White carbon writing
In the sky
we breath
Reminds me of lighting
Fire flies
Stars
Life in the ocean
Mole pups burrow
in inky earth,
hidden from owls
laid bare by trowels.
Buffy, you hit pay dirt with that. Yards in our neighborhood are inundated with moles and it drives our dog insane. He has been caught digging, thus scolded, so many times that he now whines for us to go out with him to protect him from himself. He knows he can’t resist. Your last two lines are wonderful.
Mole pups burrow
in inky earth,
hidden from owls
laid bare by trowels.
Buffy, you hit pay dirt with that. Yards in our neighborhood are inundated with moles and it drives our dog insane. He has been caught digging, thus scolded, so many times that he now whines for us to go out with him to protect him from himself. He knows he can’t resist. Your last two lines are wonderful.
JET SKIS
Ocean?s ceiling receives
Electric message,
Leaving fizzy contrails
In its wake.
© Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.
Good one, Charles!
JET SKIS
Ocean?s ceiling receives
Electric message,
Leaving fizzy contrails
In its wake.
© Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.
Good one, Charles!
Oh, 5th word in poem should be “massage.” 🙂
Oh, 5th word in poem should be “massage.” 🙂
Pardon me for posting twice today, but I just can’t get those images from the Nova program on venom out of my brain, and Laura’s picture reminds me so much of what I saw.
Australian Box Jellyfish
Tendrils undulate
searching for prey.
When in the ocean,
stay out of its way.
P.S. I must stop watching programs like that. My son is a surfer.
I liked both portrayals of venom. It just proves that danger comes in pretty disguises.
Pardon me for posting twice today, but I just can’t get those images from the Nova program on venom out of my brain, and Laura’s picture reminds me so much of what I saw.
Australian Box Jellyfish
Tendrils undulate
searching for prey.
When in the ocean,
stay out of its way.
P.S. I must stop watching programs like that. My son is a surfer.
I liked both portrayals of venom. It just proves that danger comes in pretty disguises.
Wow Laura, yours is exquisite.
Overnight it grew from a cotton ball
And gave the fish an early wake up call
Wow Laura, yours is exquisite.
Overnight it grew from a cotton ball
And gave the fish an early wake up call
It DOES look like the Challenger explosion — I wouldn’t have seen that if you hadn’t said it. And I, too, watched it live in college — one of my most vivid college memories. Here’s my take:
THE MARINER’S ADMONITION
This is no squid -
don’t be mistaken!
The Krakken’s child
has been awakened…
- ? 2014, Matt Forrest Esenwine
Where were you in college, Matt? I was at UCF, and we all went out of the pizza place on campus to watch the launch. The whole event is just so clear in my memory… I have a terrible memory and don’t really remember that many specific events, ever. But that is one that my brain kept…
I know what you mean about college memories…there are some you might not want to remember! I was in my freshman year at Castleton State in Vermont and had just finished lunch the dining hall when suddenly everyone was talking about the shuttle blowing up. And of course, the immediate reaction from most of us who heard this was, “What are you talking about? The shuttle wouldn’t have just ‘blown up’!”
Unfortunately, it had — and we spent a good part of the afternoon glued to the TV in our dorm’s lounge. Keep in mind, this was in Vermont and many of us were New Hampshire residents who had a connection to Christa McAuliffe, so it was especially heart-wrenching to witness the events that unfolded.
Ah, gotcha. I thought you meant you were in Florida, too. We all just stood there staring up into the sky, trying to figure out what the heck had just happened. And then we all raced back inside to check the tv news. My only personal connection was that my dad worked at NASA and had for my whole life. Our family had gone to the Cape to watch many launches live. This one, I was just watching from central Florida, so I didn’t see the actual launch live. But we watched it rising in the sky, and we were all cheering, and then…
How awful for those who felt extra personally invested it through Christa McAuliffe. It was a devastating thing. Have you read Joyce Sidman’s poem about McAuliffe in DARE TO DREAM? It is absolutely stunning.
It DOES look like the Challenger explosion — I wouldn’t have seen that if you hadn’t said it. And I, too, watched it live in college — one of my most vivid college memories. Here’s my take:
THE MARINER’S ADMONITION
This is no squid -
don’t be mistaken!
The Krakken’s child
has been awakened…
- ? 2014, Matt Forrest Esenwine
Where were you in college, Matt? I was at UCF, and we all went out of the pizza place on campus to watch the launch. The whole event is just so clear in my memory… I have a terrible memory and don’t really remember that many specific events, ever. But that is one that my brain kept…
I know what you mean about college memories…there are some you might not want to remember! I was in my freshman year at Castleton State in Vermont and had just finished lunch the dining hall when suddenly everyone was talking about the shuttle blowing up. And of course, the immediate reaction from most of us who heard this was, “What are you talking about? The shuttle wouldn’t have just ‘blown up’!”
Unfortunately, it had — and we spent a good part of the afternoon glued to the TV in our dorm’s lounge. Keep in mind, this was in Vermont and many of us were New Hampshire residents who had a connection to Christa McAuliffe, so it was especially heart-wrenching to witness the events that unfolded.
Ah, gotcha. I thought you meant you were in Florida, too. We all just stood there staring up into the sky, trying to figure out what the heck had just happened. And then we all raced back inside to check the tv news. My only personal connection was that my dad worked at NASA and had for my whole life. Our family had gone to the Cape to watch many launches live. This one, I was just watching from central Florida, so I didn’t see the actual launch live. But we watched it rising in the sky, and we were all cheering, and then…
How awful for those who felt extra personally invested it through Christa McAuliffe. It was a devastating thing. Have you read Joyce Sidman’s poem about McAuliffe in DARE TO DREAM? It is absolutely stunning.
When we were young
Our Television was blue
I wondered where
It did get to !
When we were young
Our Television was blue
I wondered where
It did get to !