Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Photo by Paolo Costa Baldi. License: GFDL/CC-BY-SA 3.0
I love this panoramic view of the Colosseum. It makes me think of:
1.?Gladiators, of course
2. Lions
3. The lens of a microscope
Here’s my poem first draft, in haiku to adhere to my Poetry Month Haiku-a-Day:>)
stone wall whisperroars
echoes of claws, teeth, applause
escape on soft paws
–Laura Purdie Salas
What does this picture make YOU think of? Whatever enters your mind, jot a quick 15 words or less poem and share it in the comments! Feel free to comment on each others? poems and tell what your favorite part is:>)
76 Responses
Walls of stone
Engulf me
Lost in a maze
of confusion
and wonderment
Beyond belief
- Anne McKenna
Love the maze and the walls of stone, Anne. And engulf. Give me those concrete nouns and verbs! They get across emotion more strongly than abstract/emotion words like confusion, wonderment, and belief. Your first 3 lines are strong!
Walls of stone
Engulf me
Lost in a maze
of confusion
and wonderment
Beyond belief
- Anne McKenna
Love the maze and the walls of stone, Anne. And engulf. Give me those concrete nouns and verbs! They get across emotion more strongly than abstract/emotion words like confusion, wonderment, and belief. Your first 3 lines are strong!
Helmeted heroes
swarm through the honeycomb stone
Seeking sweet victory
Oooh, I love the honeycomb, the swarm, and the sweet…nicely done, Cathy!
Helmeted heroes
swarm through the honeycomb stone
Seeking sweet victory
Oooh, I love the honeycomb, the swarm, and the sweet…nicely done, Cathy!
playground of death sports
salad bowl of misery
ruins of ruin
not very cheery, i must admit, but the challenge of a haiku lead me that direction somehow. i should try another.
what sort of world
would we live in today if
romans played football?
i grew up in los angeles when the rams were there and played in the colosseum. when i was young and would hear about gladiator battles in ancient rome and the other blood sports i was often confused about what was really going on in the stadium. ah, the confusions of youth.
Love “ruins of ruin”
ellie
Great story! Huh. Maybe that explains some of the violence in L.A. :>) I love lines 1 and 3 of your first haiku. Nothing wrong with a not-cheery poem!
playground of death sports
salad bowl of misery
ruins of ruin
not very cheery, i must admit, but the challenge of a haiku lead me that direction somehow. i should try another.
what sort of world
would we live in today if
romans played football?
i grew up in los angeles when the rams were there and played in the colosseum. when i was young and would hear about gladiator battles in ancient rome and the other blood sports i was often confused about what was really going on in the stadium. ah, the confusions of youth.
Love “ruins of ruin”
ellie
Great story! Huh. Maybe that explains some of the violence in L.A. :>) I love lines 1 and 3 of your first haiku. Nothing wrong with a not-cheery poem!
Death by Indignity: the Colosseum
Two thousand years
withstanding the elements
two hundred years
suffering hands, feet,
and tourists’ tushies.
Poignant comedy! “Tourists’ tushies.” Oh did you make me laugh!
Hehehe. I totally feel this poem. But I’d still love to sit in the Colosseum and undignify it with my tushie.
Me, too, actually!
Death by Indignity: the Colosseum
Two thousand years
withstanding the elements
two hundred years
suffering hands, feet,
and tourists’ tushies.
Poignant comedy! “Tourists’ tushies.” Oh did you make me laugh!
Hehehe. I totally feel this poem. But I’d still love to sit in the Colosseum and undignify it with my tushie.
Me, too, actually!
bare bones
of skeletal walls -
once supported
death watchers,
once entombed
the living dead
- ellie (no — not zombies!)
Oh, but wouldn’t zombies in the Colosseum make a great scene? Love death watchers. Great mood here.
bare bones
of skeletal walls -
once supported
death watchers,
once entombed
the living dead
- ellie (no — not zombies!)
Oh, but wouldn’t zombies in the Colosseum make a great scene? Love death watchers. Great mood here.
Termites
eat away at history
leaving weak, porous
stories, retold.
Ooh, that’s good!
Great image. Love the last word: retold. Gives your poem so much meaning.
ellie
I love porous stories.
porous/stories — yes! History is full of those!
Termites
eat away at history
leaving weak, porous
stories, retold.
Ooh, that’s good!
Great image. Love the last word: retold. Gives your poem so much meaning.
ellie
I love porous stories.
porous/stories — yes! History is full of those!
Love the sounds in your poem today, Laura. And…whisperroars! I love this rash of smooshwords I’ve seen lately — they are so fun. Nothing is coming to me, so I’m just enjoying everyone else’s!
Thanks, Renee! Yes, I was inspired on whisperroars by someone’s poem recently on 30 Poets/30 Days (or whatever it’s called) at Greg Pincus’ blog. Maybe it was Amy Ludwig Vanderwater’s poem? Glad you stopped by to read, even if a poem didn’t come to you!
Love the sounds in your poem today, Laura. And…whisperroars! I love this rash of smooshwords I’ve seen lately — they are so fun. Nothing is coming to me, so I’m just enjoying everyone else’s!
Thanks, Renee! Yes, I was inspired on whisperroars by someone’s poem recently on 30 Poets/30 Days (or whatever it’s called) at Greg Pincus’ blog. Maybe it was Amy Ludwig Vanderwater’s poem? Glad you stopped by to read, even if a poem didn’t come to you!
Everyone out!
Bee looking about!
Our empty comb
is not Home Sweet Home!
Great metaphor! Bzzz, bzzz!
Everyone out!
Bee looking about!
Our empty comb
is not Home Sweet Home!
Great metaphor! Bzzz, bzzz!
Summertime Tourist
Etched on stone pillars
forgotten memories, ancient pain
breathe deeply?
then escape for Roman gelato.
Many tries to capture this one.…..was drawn to the tourist dichotomy:voyeur on vacation.…or ancient history tour?
I love “ancient pain.”
I think you captured that dichotomy well. You have powerful, longlasting things, and then the whimsical, short-lived gelato…nice!
Summertime Tourist
Etched on stone pillars
forgotten memories, ancient pain
breathe deeply?
then escape for Roman gelato.
Many tries to capture this one.…..was drawn to the tourist dichotomy:voyeur on vacation.…or ancient history tour?
I love “ancient pain.”
I think you captured that dichotomy well. You have powerful, longlasting things, and then the whimsical, short-lived gelato…nice!
What ancient carnivore
feigns ruin,
its jaws set to snatch
the present
and drag it to the dust?
Love the sense of kinetic energy here, of what’s *about* to happen. Fantastic verbs!
What ancient carnivore
feigns ruin,
its jaws set to snatch
the present
and drag it to the dust?
Love the sense of kinetic energy here, of what’s *about* to happen. Fantastic verbs!
Colosseum is fossil
of Roman society
an Emperor Nautilus shell
tentacled in history
- Violet Nesdoly
It took me a while to grasp what I was seeing when I first saw the pic, but it eventually hit me: the cross-section of a chambered nautilus. Maybe the last line should read “tentacled to history”?
Ooh, I adore this metaphor, Violet. I prefer tentacled in history, because it gives me this tangled, entwined feeling.
Colosseum is fossil
of Roman society
an Emperor Nautilus shell
tentacled in history
- Violet Nesdoly
It took me a while to grasp what I was seeing when I first saw the pic, but it eventually hit me: the cross-section of a chambered nautilus. Maybe the last line should read “tentacled to history”?
Ooh, I adore this metaphor, Violet. I prefer tentacled in history, because it gives me this tangled, entwined feeling.
A Love Note to My Future Body Snatchers
Centuries from now,
I hope my unearthed body
looks just as good
from any angle
-Pamela Ross
Love, love, love. The Panoramic View of Pamela!
Good one, Pam!
A Love Note to My Future Body Snatchers
Centuries from now,
I hope my unearthed body
looks just as good
from any angle
-Pamela Ross
Love, love, love. The Panoramic View of Pamela!
Good one, Pam!
Colosseum
giant shell of porous bone,
tunnels of the inner-ear,
labyrinth of dreams and death?
Julie, This is stunning. The last line especially, but the whole poem is fantastic. This needs a bigger audience.
Thank you so much, Laura–that means a lot!
Well, I don’t say it often. Only when it’s true:>)
Colosseum
giant shell of porous bone,
tunnels of the inner-ear,
labyrinth of dreams and death?
Julie, This is stunning. The last line especially, but the whole poem is fantastic. This needs a bigger audience.
Thank you so much, Laura–that means a lot!
Well, I don’t say it often. Only when it’s true:>)
This one is 16 words so it technically doesn’t count but I had fun writing it!
COLOSSEUM
Sterling dagger,
trusty shield,
Rival staggers,
Fate is sealed.
Romans hate
Agitators
Their best mates?
GLADIATORS.
© Charles Waters 2012 all rights reserved.
Ha! Great details here–that sterling dagger, the staggering rival–and terrific sounds.
This one is 16 words so it technically doesn’t count but I had fun writing it!
COLOSSEUM
Sterling dagger,
trusty shield,
Rival staggers,
Fate is sealed.
Romans hate
Agitators
Their best mates?
GLADIATORS.
© Charles Waters 2012 all rights reserved.
Ha! Great details here–that sterling dagger, the staggering rival–and terrific sounds.