Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Poem 2:
Ekphrastic Poem with the Poetry Princesses
This is Part 2 of my Poetry Friday post this week. If you didn’t see yesterday’s Part 1, I invite you to go check out a poem I submitted for One Minute Till Bedtime that did NOT make the cut:>)
Now, on to today’s poem.
This month, to close out our wonderful year of writing poetry together, we did one last ekphrastic poem to Andi’s choice of photo.
Actually, Andi gave us a whole bunch of choices, from Glencairn Cloister in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. It looks so peaceful and lovely. As usual, though, I was cutting it right down to the wire. But I love architectural sculpture. The idea that we take stone of various kinds and turn it into living things we love… Here’s the image I chose and my poem.
Feather Bones
We carve rock
so it talks about
swans and peacocks
There’s something about
stone–
bone of our planet
but soft as feathers
graceful as a breath–
when the right hands
love it
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Now go see what my Poetry Sisters have come up with!
Andi
Kelly
Liz
Sara
Tanita
Tricia
And here are the previous Poetry Sisters collaborations:
| Nov 2016 | Terza rima (“When Hope Is Not Easy”) |
| Oct 2016 | Ekphrastic poems (“Flip a Coin”) |
| Sep 2016 | Clogyrnach poems (“Monarch”) |
| Aug 2016 | Ekphrastic poems |
| Jul 2016 | Poems inspired by a Kay Ryan poem (“House for Sale”) |
| Jun 2016 | Harpy poems |
| May 2016 | Tritina |
| Apr 2016 | “Channel-Hopping Through Grasshopper Reality TV” |
| Mar 2016 | Sedoka |
| Feb 2016 | Poem Inspired by a Picasso Sculpture (ugh) |
| Jan 2016 | Crown sonnet (on the periodic table) |
| Nov 2015 | Ekphrastic poems |
| Oct 2015 | Etherees |
| Sep 2015 | Found poems |
| Aug 2015 | Classified haiku |
| Jul 2015 | Inspired by e.e. cummings’ poems |
| Jun 2015 | Odes |
| May 2015 | Pantoums |
| Apr 2015 | Raccontinos |
| Mar 2015 | Sestinas (Lord have mercy) |
| Feb 2015 | Villanelles on hidden things |
| Jan 2015 | Triolets on beginnings (And I posted an extra one here.) |
| Pre-2015 | Villanelles, a crown sonnet, rondeau redoubles, and pantoums |
For more poetry fun, go visit the Poetry Friday Roundup with Bridget at Wee Words for Wee Ones. She has such a warm and personal post about the Poetry Friday community–don’t miss it.
33 Responses
Beautiful words — stone is almost magical in the way it can be transformed into an almost living being in the hands of a master craftsperson.
Thanks, Jane. Sculpting just astonishes me. I don’t even see how it’s physically possible, really…
Oh to love stone enough to bring forth peacocks… art, indeed! Thank you, Laura! xo
Thanks, Irene–yes, wish I could do that!
Feather Bones is beautiful! And I enjoyed reading your poem that didn’t make the cut and was impressed that you had so many poems to comb through…wow!
Thanks, Penny. Yeah, well, over the years… (and notice I didn’t specify the quality of the poems:>)
There is indeed something about stone, and your poem nails it. Love the title, too. Have you ever considered doing a book about sculptures and calling it Feather Bones??
No, I haven’t. But I am now;>) Thanks, Sara!
Ooooo yes yes yes, do that!!!
I LOVE ekphrastic poetry! Thanks for the great link to posts from the Poetry Sisters!
Glad you enjoyed this, Becky! I really like ekphrastic poetry, but I’ve been surprised as we’ve done it several times over this past year that I like it MUCH better when I pick art I’m drawn to. I’ve really struggled with some of the images…
Your poem captures the delicacy and strength of stone. Love Sara’s book idea,
Thanks, Julieanne–me, too! Someday…
Wonderful poem. Love that last line.
Thanks, Brenda!
My pleasure.
It just makes you wonder, if you loved enough, what else you could bring from various things… I do like this a lot. Happy poeting, and thank you for another year.
Yeah, it does put a lot more of the responsibility back on us, doesn’t it? Hmmm…and thank YOU!
“bone of our planet
but soft as feathers
graceful as a breath” — lovely, Laura! I’m enjoying the various photos and the ekphrastics that have resulted from you and your poetry sisters. =)
I agree with Bridget, those are such poignant, beautiful lines. To go from stone to breath, through bones and feathers — really amazing. You’ve matched the sculpture with your words! Thanks, also, for linking to all the other poems we’ve done this year. Wow, what a great year it’s been in poetry!
I love the way “you” wrote about the stone talking about peacocks, Laura. That is a clever thought, and interesting to imagine with so many sculptures. It’s beautiful!
Love the contrasts you’ve drawn about stone: bone of our planet
but soft as feathers. And imagine the patience it takes to make rocks talk about swans and peacocks!
I loved following the trail of your rhymes through the ends and middles of lines. And I second the book idea!
Thanks, Mary Lee. I’ve been wanting to play more with internal and imperfect rhymes lately:>)
“bone of our planet” is a PERFECT PHRASE.
I love this, Laura.…
Gorgeous, Laura. I also love the contrast between “bone of our planet/but soft as feathers.”
Thanks, Catherine!
I’m so glad you chose to write about these birds. I too am in awe of sculpture and carvings, amazed at what can be wrought in rock. And I love this line:
“graceful as a breath–
when the right hands
love it”
Lovely poem, Laura!
Thanks, Tricia. And for the whole year of poems:>)
Bone of our planet.…I love that line.
Thank you, Linda:>)
This is such an awesome activity — love the collaborative idea behind it.
These are my favourite lines:
graceful as a breath–
when the right hands
love it
🙂
Thanks, Myra. Writing with my poetry sisters is a great bond. I think we’re doing it again this year:>)