Hi, 15 Words-or-Less-ers!
Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here)
Here’s a picture I took at the grocery store just before Thanksgiving.
These gourds were huge! Granted, that mini-pumpkin with the crow on it is pretty small, but it was between tennis ball and baseball size. These gourds were like something out of an old sci-fi movie! So, this image makes me think of:
- Attack of the 50-Foot Butternut Squash! (I can see the movie poster in my head!)
- A giant carrying one of these in his lunchbox (Eat your veggies, George)
- I wonder if I could build a mannequin out of these?
And, here’s my first draft. Boy, did my mind draw a blank when I tried to actually jot down a poem. This picture gave me ideas for stories, but I had trouble picking one image or moment to capture. I ended up picturing the moment when villagers notice that a pumpkin has grown from the ground with a raven mark on it. They’re all wondering if the pumpkin is some kind of sign of evil, and also wondering whose it is. I was picturing a community garden. Sigh. I don’t think my poem really captures all that at all. Oh well, there’s always next time–or a revision:>)
It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count:>) If you leave a poem in the comments, and if it’s 15 words or less, I’ll try to respond!
25 Responses
Nestled in the
hands of friends,
the odd one out
can fit right in.
Pure sweetness Amelia.
Oh, Amelia. Oh. My gosh. This just touches me today. Thank you for this. And have you read Nerdy Bird? It’s a funny picture book, and this would go so perfectly with it…
I met Cara Bevan at an SCBWI‑C Conference. Here’s gourd art you must see: http://www.carabevan.com/GourdSeries.html
Wow. I could only get her homepage to load for me, but those are a‑maz-ing! I hope to go back and learn how she makes them? I was reading a doodling book the other day that had some love gourd art in it, but it was all painting, not sculpting. Wow.
Good morning all. Hectic days and few left in this year. Love the “earthy” picture. It prods me back to basics.
Blank Canvas
cinnamon, curry powder
for color
apple, onion
for flavor
puree, voila,
“Autumn Squash Soup”
Love your poem
Thank you Jessica.
This made my mouth water, Martha! Great details:>)
This made my mouth water, Martha! Great details–and would you like to come make lunch for me:>)
Pumpkin-pajamas
ebony-wings
cornfield-dreams
October’s-moon
squash-stew
spiced-pies
Pumpkin-pajamas
November
Poem By Jessica Bigi
Love the last line of your poem
Jessica, it looks as if we are of like mind today.
Thank you, Jessica. What a wonderful list poem. I especially like the ebony wings.
That crow reminds me of “one of these things is not like the other”! So I ignored it…
fat orange pumpkins
left us behind—
the white squash
the green squash
bitter old rinds
—Kate Coombs
A totally valid approach–we pick and choose what inspires us:>) This has such a feeling of despair or resentment to it for me. Those lovely pumpkins disappearing and only bitterness remaining. Sigh.
According
to lore,
gourds
afford
storage,
and music,
and art,
and more.
Ooh, you know I love exploring what something can be used for:>) I love gourds/afford…
Too many produce stickers kept turning up in our compost pile, so I became vigilant about removing them. Now my family has an annoying little game of hiding produce stickers on one another’s back (or on the poor dog’s collar…) so those stickers are what caught my eye.
Squash Cycle
Crumbly earth,
sacred seeds.
Luscious vines,
pesky weeds.
Giant blooms,
gourds galore.
Bar-code bounty:
Superstore.
Ha–I like this, Buffy! Your family sounds like mine;>)
All I could think of
Was slaves seeking freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
I do like the raven tattooed pumpkin.
Lovely, Joy!
Acne face
in a crowd of hulk
hoping someday
he will bulk.
Aw, I always think of acne when I see those bumpy gourds:>)
BIG NIGHT OUT
Let me rest
Up on the top
Otherwise my head
Might flop
Or simply drop !
Anne McKenna
Hahaha–that poor gourd!