Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.
I took this pic over the summer when Randy and I were getting new glasses. The optometrist was measuring…something to do with Randy’s eyes:>)
This image makes me think of several things:
- different biases and filters we have when we look at each other
- a scientist staring into space, and someTHING staring back!
- Viewmasters! (What a blast from my childhood!)
And here’s my first draft.
It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)
40 Responses
LOL! I love getting new glasses. I always say to the eye glass specialist, “make me pretty.”
You see
what she sees?
He sees?
They see
he sees
what she sees
You see?
Heehee–I see! I can tell there are going to be tons of playful poems here today. I love it!
Linda I’m going to have to try that line next time I go to the eye doctor lol. Love your poem today!
Thanks for the chuckle Linda. I bet “make me pretty” brings a variety of responses.
An interesting picture. I have a few pairs of binoculars in the house My grandchildren love looking ar everything through the wrong end and waving at us when they spy us.
Peek-a-boo
I see
You see
Me looking at you
You see
I see
You seeing
me, too.
By Donna JT Smith
ha ha! I was thinking along the same lines. I used to LOVE my grandad’s set of binoculars.…the heft of them, the scent of them and the view. Great memory. Thanks!
I love the verbal Escher-like quality of this playful poem, Donna!
Binoculars bring back lots of warm memories Donna. I still have some, been through the grands, now beginning another journey with the great-grands.
Timely picture Laura, in so many ways. Our eyes are such a precious gift, a compass with which to guide our life, and I continue to be inspired by those who have never seen as well as those, for whatever reason, lost their sight to disease or accident.
The “Eyes” Have It
The eyes of man
personify a soul
unique in him
for a sole purpose.
Love the wordplay of soul/sole, Martha. My dad is losing his vision, but I just wasn’t ready to explore that in a poem yet, I guess, because it didn’t even occur to me to go that direction!
My dad began losing his sight and due to his generation he did the only thing that he thought one could do. Modern medicine was foreign to him. He would say, “just go to the store and get a pair with the next highest strength.” He was legally blind when he died, but he never complained. Oh, the things he might have enjoyed.
Ah, that makes me so sad. I am grateful for modern medicine but cognizant of how many people STILL do not benefit from it. My dad gets treatment (shots in the eye–yikes–and medication), but it’s not curable. Certainly makes me appreciate my own sight, that’s for sure.
DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS
Looking at you looking at me.
Eye to eye, what do we see?
Reality? Fantasy?
I see kindness in your poems, Cindy, week after week wrapped in a fun rhyme.
Powerful Cindy.
ooooh, I love this…great question
I liked your galactic spin, Laura, and the reminder of viewmasters.
I am borrowing a phrase to comment on what we project.
“Look onto my eyes.”
Can you see kindness,
Or just cataracts
And astigmatism?
Oh, I hope they see kindness in mine! Good poem!
I love this invitation (and challenge) to look beyond the obvious, Lauren!
I really enjoyed this poem, especially because I work in healthcare and I’m sure patient’s feel like that everyday.
I love the playfulness of the image and the other poems, but mine went in a darker direction this morning.
BLINDED
blinded
by our partisan
biases
we see
completely
different
worlds
in the same
events
Oh, so true, Kay. So. True.
Well said!
so true…even between people that are close otherwise. It’s painful!
Laura great picture and poem as usual. Loved your last line “waiting for discovery”. I too was reminded of the view master which inspired my poem. I remember how much I loved that toy.
View Master for Two
“Click”…
Next picture;
what do you see?
I see my past,
gazing back at me.
Oh, how I loved that clicking sound. So distinctive. I like “gazing,” which makes your poem feel more reflective and not bouncy.
I can still hear the click. 🙂 What an interesting way to view the Viewmaster.
Love the galaxy/spin/discovery theme in your poem, Laura. This photograph brought me to the last birthday my mom celebrated, and how she beamed while we sang to her with homemade blueberry muffins. Thanks for bringing back a lovely memory!
Birthday Candles
the memory of your
face glowing, eyes gleaming
as I watched you
watching me
Buffy, your note made me a bit teary. I could picture this beautiful moment so vividly. Hugs, and thanks for sharing this!
Changing Places
A trip around the world for me
A loss of sight
Just memories
So much bittersweet impact here, Suzanne.
poem By Jessica Bigi
Seeing The Further
always wondered
way my Dr.
sad I have ex ray vison
so sorry I read
my fourteenth cook
should be
cookie
I was a little uncertain, but I think I have it. Is that last line “fortune cookie”? If so, ha! X‑ray vision sounds cool but pry would stink. :>)
that is what I meant I don’t reay have that but hereing yes every litties sound from veary far away
every littlest sound
Lol! My eye doctor said that too when I was younger — could see through walls!
I couldn’t read my fortune cookie though! Lol!! Great poem.
mmmmmmm cookies.…14 all for me?
This reminds me of when I was in third grade and asked the teacher to sit in front so I could see the board. She called my mother and the next day I had glasses!
Near
Nearly near,
farly far,
I can see you
wherever you are.
—Kate Coombs
This feels so sweet, Kate. A trusting feel to it. And love your memory, too. 🙂