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.
Before today’s challenge, I want to share some lovely news from Elaine Magliaro (author of the glorious picture book Things to Do) shared on Facebook recently that two poems she originally wrote years ago for 15 Words or Less are now published in a UK book!
Congratulations, Elaine! I always love to hear good news when our little first drafts here take on a life of their own elsewhere. You just never know:>)
Another image from our trip to Cyprus. I always find something appealing about the neat rolls of hay gathered in fields.
This image makes me think of several things:
- Hey, Hey, Hay! — a new picture book by Christy Mihaly
- a Little Debbie Swiss Cake Roll
- a Ferris wheel
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.)
NOTE: We are moving on Monday, and I don’t know how much I’ll be able to reply to comments this week or next.
32 Responses
Laura, loved your poem! It needs to be in a book!
I loved it when my kids would sleep in. Didn’t happen often.
CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Morning light
rolled up tight
blanket of blue
peeking through
shaggy head
lie-abed.
This is darling Cindy. Perfect picture emerges.
Love how these rhyming lines makes me imagine sleeping children… long ago.
This is so sweet. Love it!
You misunderstood,
sorry to say -
that’s not what I meant
by “roll in the hay.”
© 2018, Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved
So glad I had the time to pop in and be inspired, Laura — thank you! And congratulations to Elaine, not only for being published, but for having her poem compared to “King Lear!” Pretty cool.
Hahaha!
Matt, thanks for starting my morning off with a laugh!
A twirler
on a trailer,
that’s the
hay baler.
poem by Jessica Bigi
In a greening filed
A golden pinnate
a what’s winters party
poem By Jessica Bigi
In a greening filed
A golden piñata
A what’s Winters’s party
poem By Jessica Bigi
In Greening files
golden piñatas
A what winter’s party
This will make quite a winter’s party! Love the idea that they are piñatas!
How fitting Laura; seasonal, perfect timing. Best wishes for a smooth move! Is there any such thing? We are about to put a sign in our yard after 21 years and just getting to this stage has taken ten years off my life (lol) and I think the worst is still ahead of us. This pic reminds me of a roll of insulation about to be installed in a corner of our garage.
Sustenance
Bare spot
filled for warmth
round bites of nutrition
lie in wait
against
winter’s wrath.
Oh, winter’s wrath. Love that. Thanks for the good wishes. I have definitely lost at least 10 years;)
Congrats to Elaine. I guess this is a sign I need to hold onto my little poems. You never know. Laura, your picture reminds me of a field here that is covered in these bales. My husband called it a field of giant marshmallows.
No need to feel fallow
in a field of blooming
marshmallows.
Oh, I can totally see this, especially when they put those white covers on the hay bales. Clever!
Good one Margaret. There is a dairy farm near us and they keep the silage covered with white covers anchored with used tires. I think Oreos every time I ride by.
Since I’ve become more and more entranced by birds, I have come to view haying, especially early haying, with dread. Here’s my not-too-cheery effort:
Early Haying
Spiraled and bound
Food secured
Life for horses
Death for birds
One of my first thoughts was of all the insects caught up in there!
My husband was a farmer in northern Maine, and he, like others would get off the tractor to determine where the nest was when they saw a killdeer luring them away with their injured bird act. Then he would mark it and lift the equipment over the nest. Maybe not all farmers did that, but the ones he knew did. Hope that helps!!!! I know I go crazy sad when there are dead animals on the road!
Oh, that’s so nice to hear! I was also thinking about bobolinks. I do know some farmers delay the haying a bit to (hopefully) allow the birds to fledge. Thanks for sharing!
We had dickcissels in the hayfield across the road this year for the first time. It broke my heart when they cut for hay.
Pushed enter too early!!! I also wanted to say how much I liked your poem, Laura, especially “swirl of summer.” Hope the move’s going well. Just the thought of moving makes me have palpitations!
How exciting to have a 15 Worder go Worlder!
Yours reminded me of our horses munching on those sweet bales!
The bale reminded me of the round shredded wheat I ate for breakfast as a child. Mom would pour a bit of hot water on them first to soften, then we added the milk and sugar.
Shredded wheat
Sugar atop
Heat, eat
Then off to bus stop!
Here’s what else it made me imagine:
Birds stand in line
For a pre-fab nest
No building required -
Slice it and rest.
Pre-fab nest is great Donna, as in my daughter’s front door wreath full of grape vines and silk forsythia.
Love that pre-fab nest! Funny and clever!
I like your seasonal connections Laura. Your image made me think of two poems before dashing off for our weekend trip to Door County, thanks!
Monet sprinkled paint
and powerful light
poured from
his painting …
Effervescent light
and textures
time travel
from Monet’s
marks
Michelle–love these. My thoughts turned to Van Gogh even though my poem didn’t go that way.
I love the way your filters have transformed the hay bale, but still give a feeling of sunrise or sunset. I spent some time this week photographing stuff at sunset, and this reminded me of the spiderweb I tried to photograph with sun setting through it. Good luck with your move, Laura!
Sunset spills
on spider webs
turning them into gold.
Golden hay bales
litter my yards
Scarecrow and Bat
our castle guards
Needs work! 🙂
Oops. Lopsided. Not sure how that happened.
I like your poem, Laura!
I really want to write about Swiss cake rolls (yum!) but it just isn’t happening.
Love the image! Made me think of time spent climbing to the top of baled hay as a kid with my sister.
King of the Hill
scrabbled
clawed
pushed
giggled
my way to lofty rule
monarch til I’m offed
Rebekah. the word offed is perfect.