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.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC is so haunting. This image makes me think of several things:
- homesick
- firefighters
- militia groups
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.)
20 Responses
I see “heart drained” and it takes me to a new place too…maybe I need to go write that poem.
If my nightmare
became your
war memorial
who would know
would see?
would wake me?
I love those questions, Linda. Perhaps separating them out into their own stanza might make them even more powerful? Just a thought.
What an image, Laura, and a great poem! I love “heart drained empty right down her pen.” Here’s my super quick, didn’t-even-write-it-down draft!
the trees remain
after the men are gone
silent sentinels
Silent sentinels — perfect.
Oh, Molly, silent sentinels is awesome. It makes me think of both the soldiers and the trees, even though you are specifically talking about the trees in this poem.
I love “silent sentinels”
Good morning Laura. The fourth line in your verse is heart-wrenching and says it all: “war is hell.” Never a quote more applicable.
The Artist’s Pen
Helmets, guns for protection
cloaks for warmth
she sketches an illusion
for what lies within.
Oh this is interesting, Martha. I thought from the title that you were going to go to the pen as weapon metaphor. But instead you’ve gone right to the heart. Lovely.
I, too, love your fourth line, Laura- it drains me.
Childhood Gone
The games we played
memories stayed
Now in it for real
different deal
I’m scared.
Cindy, I remember the games my little brother and his friends played. Scary indeed, never more so than now. Maybe little sisters participate now.
Cindy, this one choked me up. I am dictating my responses on my phone, and Gboard is having a hard time understanding me. That was one thing that always strikes me at the war memorials, is how young so many of the soldiers are and how quickly they must grow up. But you know they must still feel every emotion with the intensity of youth. Your last line slayed me.
That is a serious wow. Well done.
Linda, this is so powerful. I felt a few heartbeats skip as I was reading it.
In Seconds
Startled eyes
Death-call cries
Weight of lives
Final dives
Call to lies
Silence. Appreciative silence.
This is not where I intended to go when I searched for a simile, but sometime the poem has a mind of its own?
The Candidate
Unwelcome
as a soldier
hacking through the jungle
he raised his voice
silenced her truth
Boy, I am longing for a world where the loudest voice is not the one that gets automatically believed.
Wow Laura this is really heartfelt: the picture and especially your words, “Her heart drained empty straight down her pen.” Haunting!
When we were Young
Remember the times
We played army
In the woods?
We were just little boys then…
poem by Jessica Bigi
On an Day Of A million Tears and Stars
Through rice filed
marching
marching
Rice felled stomachs
marching
marching
freedom- heart-tears
marching
marching
I love the cadence, Jessica.