Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Here’s a picture I took during my nature-poetry-writing workshop in Bemidji, MN, earlier this summer.?This image makes me think of:
1)?cauliflower
2)?Alice in Wonderland
3) s’mores!
And here’s my?first draft:
When I Eat S’mores, I Taste…?
smoky ghost stories,
crisp Superior winds,
crunchy, damp tennis shoes,
fiery orange life preservers…
perfection
–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 in my FINAL week of summer school this week–going around school to school to admire all the students’ CAN BE… books! On the downside, I will not be home to respond to your poems. I will read them, but I won’t have time to comment on them. I’m sorry about that.
94 Responses
S’mores taste like damp tennis shoes—don’t know about that. Certainly is original, Laura.
FUNGUS
He showed me
the growth
on his hickory tree.
It smelled like
oyster mushrooms
to me.
Diane, inevitable death is indeed inevitable. I admire your depth.
Joy, I enjoyed the rhythm in your verse.
Joy, thanks! I had to use Google to look up oyster mushrooms.
Never heard of them before. Now I have learned something today.
I have never smelled an oyster mushroom. Now I’ll have to go look that one up.
S’mores taste like damp tennis shoes—don’t know about that. Certainly is original, Laura.
FUNGUS
He showed me
the growth
on his hickory tree.
It smelled like
oyster mushrooms
to me.
Diane, inevitable death is indeed inevitable. I admire your depth.
Joy, I enjoyed the rhythm in your verse.
Joy, thanks! I had to use Google to look up oyster mushrooms.
Never heard of them before. Now I have learned something today.
I have never smelled an oyster mushroom. Now I’ll have to go look that one up.
Tree Fungus
Bleeding broadleaf crust
shaggy scalycap
yellow brain
artists conk
turkeytail–
colorful
clinging
inevitable death.
Diane Mayr, all rights reserved
Diane, I’m not sure my reply was posted to your post, but it’s on the site somewhere.
Wow! Good description.
Well, someone did her homework! Had no idea fungus and shrooms had such fanciful, yet ominous names.
Well, that was an uplifting poem with death at the end…inevitable! HA!
Do love those names — especially Shaggy Scalycap!
Tree Fungus
Bleeding broadleaf crust
shaggy scalycap
yellow brain
artists conk
turkeytail–
colorful
clinging
inevitable death.
Diane Mayr, all rights reserved
Diane, I’m not sure my reply was posted to your post, but it’s on the site somewhere.
Wow! Good description.
Well, someone did her homework! Had no idea fungus and shrooms had such fanciful, yet ominous names.
Well, that was an uplifting poem with death at the end…inevitable! HA!
Do love those names — especially Shaggy Scalycap!
Hay mom
Are Oak tree
Is blowing bubbles
Dear trees don’t
Blow bubbles
Our does I
Shared my bubble gum
With our Oak
It blue a bubble so big
I gout stuck inside
Now I’flying up up up
POP!!!
By Jessica Bigi sorry it’s so long
I’m
Sounds like a picture book story you have here. Could be one to work on.
Creative idea.
Love the story line here, but I bet you could take one piece of it– maybe the oak tree blowing bubbles– and make a great 15 word poem just from that.
After you have written one so long, try crossing out and rearranging until it tells you the same story only shorter. The challenge is the 15 words. It is really fun to try to get down to the basics of the poem and leave out all the extraneous stuff. I hope you don’t mind, but I tried to do that with yours — again, because of the challenge of it!
Shared my bubble gum
Now our Oak is
Blowing bubbles
I got stuck inside -
POP!!!
Hay mom
Are Oak tree
Is blowing bubbles
Dear trees don’t
Blow bubbles
Our does I
Shared my bubble gum
With our Oak
It blue a bubble so big
I gout stuck inside
Now I’flying up up up
POP!!!
By Jessica Bigi sorry it’s so long
I’m
Sounds like a picture book story you have here. Could be one to work on.
Creative idea.
Love the story line here, but I bet you could take one piece of it– maybe the oak tree blowing bubbles– and make a great 15 word poem just from that.
After you have written one so long, try crossing out and rearranging until it tells you the same story only shorter. The challenge is the 15 words. It is really fun to try to get down to the basics of the poem and leave out all the extraneous stuff. I hope you don’t mind, but I tried to do that with yours — again, because of the challenge of it!
Shared my bubble gum
Now our Oak is
Blowing bubbles
I got stuck inside -
POP!!!
CATERPILLAR
Your lumpy, bumpy
beige body veils
the grand wonder
of your wings.
Andria W. Rosenbaum/all rights reserved
Andria, excellent interpretation. I love how you “veiled” the lumpy, bumpy.
I love this description of either a moth or butterfly.
Probably a moth, they are more “lumpy, bumpy”.
Good idea.
Beautiful, Andria!
They are so amazing. Nice thought.
CATERPILLAR
Your lumpy, bumpy
beige body veils
the grand wonder
of your wings.
Andria W. Rosenbaum/all rights reserved
Andria, excellent interpretation. I love how you “veiled” the lumpy, bumpy.
I love this description of either a moth or butterfly.
Probably a moth, they are more “lumpy, bumpy”.
Good idea.
Beautiful, Andria!
They are so amazing. Nice thought.
It’s a Miracle
Who would have thought
that it could be done,
a marshmallow roasted
without being burned.
Martha, good idea.
Somehow that s’more does not appeal to me, though. 🙂
Now that’s a rarity for me. I actually love them aflame, blackened and blown out before I eat them. Maybe I’m just not patient.
There’s nothing more exciting than a flaming marshmallow and anticipating it cooling enough to pop it into my mouth. Never ate them any other way. That’s why “it’s a miracle.” 😉 I can see the puppy on its back. Good call.
Matt Forrest showed us how to make S’mores with the marshmallows dipped in Grand Marnie liquor before roasting. Now that was some kind of yummy. We did this at the fireplace outside Barn one evening at a Highlight’s Children’s Poetry Workshop taught by David L. Harrison. The poets have a rep of being a roudy, loud, fun bunch. If you’ve never attended one of the Highlight’s Workshops, it needs to go on your bucket list.
It’s a Miracle
Who would have thought
that it could be done,
a marshmallow roasted
without being burned.
Martha, good idea.
Somehow that s’more does not appeal to me, though. 🙂
Now that’s a rarity for me. I actually love them aflame, blackened and blown out before I eat them. Maybe I’m just not patient.
There’s nothing more exciting than a flaming marshmallow and anticipating it cooling enough to pop it into my mouth. Never ate them any other way. That’s why “it’s a miracle.” 😉 I can see the puppy on its back. Good call.
Matt Forrest showed us how to make S’mores with the marshmallows dipped in Grand Marnie liquor before roasting. Now that was some kind of yummy. We did this at the fireplace outside Barn one evening at a Highlight’s Children’s Poetry Workshop taught by David L. Harrison. The poets have a rep of being a roudy, loud, fun bunch. If you’ve never attended one of the Highlight’s Workshops, it needs to go on your bucket list.
First day at the swimming pool,
wishing modesty was still “cool.”
Laugh out loud for sure! What a vision, forever etched in my brain. Love it!
Hey, I love how you thought of those bare body parts.
It does sort of look like swimming trunks slipping down.
Ha!
LOL. I wish I couldn’t relate to this one, but alas, I do.
Oh, no! Now I can see…
This totally cracked me up! What an image!
First day at the swimming pool,
wishing modesty was still “cool.”
Laugh out loud for sure! What a vision, forever etched in my brain. Love it!
Hey, I love how you thought of those bare body parts.
It does sort of look like swimming trunks slipping down.
Ha!
LOL. I wish I couldn’t relate to this one, but alas, I do.
Oh, no! Now I can see…
This totally cracked me up! What an image!
This one was hard for me, but then I thought of how awful old piles of snow look after partially melting.
We made a snowman,
so stupendous,
but the sun came out,
and he looks
horrendous!
I like Pat. Another child’s poem?
Thank, Martha. I just can’t quit writing in rhyme. It’s too much fun.
Poor guy! He does look like a horrendous snowman!
This one was hard for me, but then I thought of how awful old piles of snow look after partially melting.
We made a snowman,
so stupendous,
but the sun came out,
and he looks
horrendous!
I like Pat. Another child’s poem?
Thank, Martha. I just can’t quit writing in rhyme. It’s too much fun.
Poor guy! He does look like a horrendous snowman!
After a night
of causing fright
The Blob sleeps tight
in plain sight.
Zzzzzzzz.…..
Oooh, I love it! A creepy Blob! Good idea.
Ha! I may never feel safe walking through the woods again.
Aaah!
Thanks for the scary image. I hope my cute puppy image doesn’t get replaced by The Blob!
After a night
of causing fright
The Blob sleeps tight
in plain sight.
Zzzzzzzz.…..
Oooh, I love it! A creepy Blob! Good idea.
Ha! I may never feel safe walking through the woods again.
Aaah!
Thanks for the scary image. I hope my cute puppy image doesn’t get replaced by The Blob!
Laura, the sweetness of your memories comes through loud and clear to me!
NO PEEKING
Momma’s secret to heavenly popovers:
“Move away from that blessed oven, devil child!”
Laura, the sweetness of your memories comes through loud and clear to me!
NO PEEKING
Momma’s secret to heavenly popovers:
“Move away from that blessed oven, devil child!”
I immediately saw a little puppy rolling around, head to the side, paws up and a little tail hanging down.
Paws in air
Not a care
Little puppy
Belly-up he
Missed the clover
Rolling over
I immediately saw a little puppy rolling around, head to the side, paws up and a little tail hanging down.
Paws in air
Not a care
Little puppy
Belly-up he
Missed the clover
Rolling over
Unseen Travelers
In the dark
and damp
and cool
of the grass,
beneath the mushrooms
fairies pass.
~~Barbara J. Turner
Love the fantasy sound of this!
Unseen Travelers
In the dark
and damp
and cool
of the grass,
beneath the mushrooms
fairies pass.
~~Barbara J. Turner
Love the fantasy sound of this!
Early Hike
My brain is mush,
but there’s no coffee.
Might just rest here
by this tree…
Early Hike
My brain is mush,
but there’s no coffee.
Might just rest here
by this tree…
I like this I would Of never though of old snow
I like this I would Of never though of old snow
The photo looks kind of like a cross between a mushroom and a misshapen flapjack, so here’s what sprang to mind for me:
Mushroom Confession:
Ever since I was a single cell,
I’ve wanted to be a pancake.
The photo looks kind of like a cross between a mushroom and a misshapen flapjack, so here’s what sprang to mind for me:
Mushroom Confession:
Ever since I was a single cell,
I’ve wanted to be a pancake.
It kind of looks like a dog to me.
FIDO?S NATURE WALK
Fido splays himself
Over large woody debris
Ready for a nap.
© Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.
It kind of looks like a dog to me.
FIDO?S NATURE WALK
Fido splays himself
Over large woody debris
Ready for a nap.
© Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.