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. Thank you for continuing to tune in over the summer and participate, even though I’ve been largely absent. That has meant a lot to me.
This is the new doormat I bought a few weeks ago. It says “Hello” as you enter and “Goodbye” as you leave. This summer has been a time of many hellos and goodbyes for me, and I was thinking about how the beginning of the school year really highlights that.
This week’s image reminded me of several things:
- a nametag
- how often we don’t say what we mean
- quizzes in magazines with the answers upside down at the bottom of the page
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)
37 Responses
Well, I made the mistake of reading your poem before getting what I wanted to say in my mind. Your poem hits the nail on the head.
DEFLATED
I HAD high expectations.
then, began to worry.
Soon anticipation
left me in a hurry.
wonderful take on the pic
Oops…thanks? But I love this! How often have we started an event or tried a hobby and then given up before giving it a real chance? I’m guilty:>)
Oh, yes! This reminds me of my first motorcycle riding lesson… Hello — Goodbye! Fortunately, I gave the “Hello” another try — but it’s so easy to give up sometimes when the going gets tougher than we thought it would be! Nice take!
Poem By Jessica Bigi
Forehead Cookie
mired reflections
of the way we should
live our lives
Poem By Jessica Bigi
Fore chant Cookie
mired reflections
of the way we should
live our lives
Reply
I like the way this talks about the reflections of hello and goodbye but pokes into the important stuff–what comes between!
Fortune cookies as corrective mirrors! I love it!
You opened the door
I hesitated
You opened your arms
I melted
The door stays open…
Oh, Margaret–this is lovely. You’ve captured the beautiful fluidity of lasting relationships! Love the “hesitated.”
Open doors are the best, especially with open arms in them.
I came up with a mish-mash on my iPad and too many words, then got up to make coffee. As I went into the kitchen, yelled at the dog for — well, yelled at the cat, actually, for harassing the dog… this came to me suddenly. So forget all the words I was trying to pare down — this is it.
And Everything In-Between
- a smiled hi
…Love, Laughter, Life…
a cried goodbye -
Meant to add how much I loved your take on it. All those “good” things before the “bye” that last and last in our memories! Love it lots!
Thanks, Donna:>)
To me, this sums up my grandparents’ and my parents’ wedded lives. Wonderful.
Yes! Love the title, and adore the way you have the opening and closing lines be specific moments and then a whole life filling in the in between. Really great!
Dittos Cindy. Laura, your take is perfect. But, we must all stick to the purpose for which this “community” exists and offer something different. Wishing you a wonderful day and pleasant weekend.
Double Entendre
you shout “HELLO”
I whimper “goodbye”
all caps then lower case
turn smiles into sighs.
My thoughts were right with yours today.
Oh, this is an interesting one, Martha. I can interpret it a few different ways, but I’m thinking my melancholy interpretation is probably most on target. (Funnily, when I bought this doormat, I kind of thought it was sort of passive aggressive. Or split personality. Or bipolar. You know.)
I love everyone’s poems today. Wonderful takes on the picture and I love the doormat.
Immediately I thought of all the different places we have lived. We moved many times, but hardest move was a big one. Boys were gone, we both had retired, we both wanted a warmer climate.
Moving
Goodbye, house,
filled with boys, noise,
chaos and love.
Hello, new home,
new life,
retirement!
Goodbye, then Hello! I am “hello-ing” to this, too!
A big move like that (I’m finding personally right now) is such a concrete reminder of what stage of life you’re in. This is a beautiful poem, Pat. Thanks for sharing it.
I love everyone poems today all so different I love how we see different thing in the same pic
Goodbye is a gift—
it means there had to be
a Hello to begin with
Oh. My. Love this take on goodbyes, Monica. Gorgeous.
I’m in the Scranton Airport on the way home from a terrific Highlights poetry workshop–this is my pep talk to myself to keep going after an inspiring and encouraging few days.
After the Workshop
Hello confidence
Goodbye doubt
Hello pluck
Goodbye bleak
Pick up pen–
Time to write!
Yes, Buffy! We have to talk ourselves up! Looked like a magical workshop:>)
Enter, Ghosts
In darkness,
your faces float,
like feathers,
brushing my cheeks,
lonely kisses from
another world
-Pamela Ross
Oooh, this is so lovely and ethereal, Pamela! Those lonely kisses…
Thanks, my dear. xoxo
ps I hope all is well with you. May all your days be filled with kisses of love and laughter. Happy hellos and temporary good byes. xox
Thanks, Pamela–feels like things are on a positive path. Hope your fall is wonderful!
OK, I played with the idea of not wanting to wipe my feet on that nice door mat.
I tiptoed
over the doormat
HELLO
for fear of
my muddy feet
making
a typo.
Hahaha–love this, Joy! That ending is fantastic!
leaving
where
I am
is hard
so
I stand in the middle
trying
to
decide
Leaving IS hard. It’s why we spend time in bad jobs, relationships, places…I love the stark, plain truth of your poem!
What a wonderful selection of poetic responses to the photo prompt!!