Lamp [15 words or less]


Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!

15WOLs

Randy and I went to the American Idol concert last week, and I took this picture of a lamp in the lobby.?It makes me think of:

1)?butterfly wings
2)’sunrise
3) shuffling a deck of cards

And here’s my?first draft of a cinquain, inspired by memories of insomnia in the dead of winter:

3 A.M.

Blanket.
Still, chilly house.
Hot chocolate. Great book.
Stained-glass lampshade of rising sun.
Cocoon.

–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:>)?

 

174 Responses

  1. This looked like the windows on a high rise apartment building reflecting the morning sun high on the windows.

    New Day Debut Day View

    Sun peers into the morning mirror
    Its reflection glowing
    Growing brighter
    As eyes fully open.

    Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved

    1. Yes, the picture does look like high rise apartments or office buildings.
      I like your phrase using the words “morning mirror.”

  2. This looked like the windows on a high rise apartment building reflecting the morning sun high on the windows.

    New Day Debut Day View

    Sun peers into the morning mirror
    Its reflection glowing
    Growing brighter
    As eyes fully open.

    Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved

    1. Yes, the picture does look like high rise apartments or office buildings.
      I like your phrase using the words “morning mirror.”

  3. Rainbow Rays

    Alone.
    Silence. Reverence.
    Atoning, seeking, accepting.
    Forgiven, thankful, peaceful lightness.
    Meditation.

    Laura, thanks for prompting a lesson in cinquains. As usual, there are many forms, as in haiku. This is my first try — I really like your shuffling cards scenario. Would love to see you expand that one! 😉

    1. A very calming path to peace. I especially like the word “accepting” used here.

    2. I like how you journey from alone (which some would think has a negative connotation) to meditation.

  4. Rainbow Rays

    Alone.
    Silence. Reverence.
    Atoning, seeking, accepting.
    Forgiven, thankful, peaceful lightness.
    Meditation.

    Laura, thanks for prompting a lesson in cinquains. As usual, there are many forms, as in haiku. This is my first try — I really like your shuffling cards scenario. Would love to see you expand that one! 😉

    1. A very calming path to peace. I especially like the word “accepting” used here.

    2. I like how you journey from alone (which some would think has a negative connotation) to meditation.

  5. Church Service

    The sun enhanced,
    colors dance across
    mournful faces.
    He would have
    enjoyed the irony.

    Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

    1. Someone’s funeral?
      I like the idea of sun enhanced colors flashing over mournful faces.
      Great contrast.

  6. Church Service

    The sun enhanced,
    colors dance across
    mournful faces.
    He would have
    enjoyed the irony.

    Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

    1. Someone’s funeral?
      I like the idea of sun enhanced colors flashing over mournful faces.
      Great contrast.

  7. I love your poem today, Laura. The mood it brings to mind.
    Blanket — Cocoon. Perfect.

    My first thought on this picture was of “rick-rack,” but I couldn’t get going on that thought.
    Then I thought of how sometimes there is rick-rack sewn on a square dance skirt for decoration.
    So here goes:

    Square Dance

    Dancers twirl.
    Skirts whirl.
    A rainbow of color
    on each girl.

    1. Saw a square dance demonstration just last week. Yep, lots of brightly colored swirling skirts! Nice poem!

  8. I love your poem today, Laura. The mood it brings to mind.
    Blanket — Cocoon. Perfect.

    My first thought on this picture was of “rick-rack,” but I couldn’t get going on that thought.
    Then I thought of how sometimes there is rick-rack sewn on a square dance skirt for decoration.
    So here goes:

    Square Dance

    Dancers twirl.
    Skirts whirl.
    A rainbow of color
    on each girl.

    1. Saw a square dance demonstration just last week. Yep, lots of brightly colored swirling skirts! Nice poem!

  9. Love stained-glass lampshade of rising sun, Laura. Somehow this reminded me of a feathered headdress.

    Now — Aliens, Monsters, Gaming

    gone are
    cowboys and indians
    teepees and cap guns
    stick horses
    imaginations!
    lost to electronics

    1. My youngest grandchildren still pretend, mostly about monsters and ghosts, but you’ve shown well what happens later. Nicely done!

    2. The show was at a casino, Ellie:>) Oh, how I miss cap guns. That smell! This took me back.

  10. Love stained-glass lampshade of rising sun, Laura. Somehow this reminded me of a feathered headdress.

    Now — Aliens, Monsters, Gaming

    gone are
    cowboys and indians
    teepees and cap guns
    stick horses
    imaginations!
    lost to electronics

    1. My youngest grandchildren still pretend, mostly about monsters and ghosts, but you’ve shown well what happens later. Nicely done!

    2. The show was at a casino, Ellie:>) Oh, how I miss cap guns. That smell! This took me back.

    1. Jennifer, I can see the keyboard and hear the music. My mother’s favorite instrument.

    2. I like your idea of the accordion, and I loved the way you used those musical words.

    1. Jennifer, I can see the keyboard and hear the music. My mother’s favorite instrument.

    2. I like your idea of the accordion, and I loved the way you used those musical words.

    1. This brings back a memory of my Grandmother’s house. I loved to watch the sun shine through those little bottles!

    2. I like your idea of colored glass bottles. The sun shining through them would certainly make them glow and possibly would reflect a rainbow on the walls.

    3. I love when the sun shines through a row of colored bottles! I wish we had a window that worked for this. Love that the bottles are trying.

    1. This brings back a memory of my Grandmother’s house. I loved to watch the sun shine through those little bottles!

    2. I like your idea of colored glass bottles. The sun shining through them would certainly make them glow and possibly would reflect a rainbow on the walls.

    3. I love when the sun shines through a row of colored bottles! I wish we had a window that worked for this. Love that the bottles are trying.

  11. Monarch

    Stained-glass wings
    flit, flutter, fly
    whisper, Good-bye
    into Summer?s
    fading sky.

    Andria W. Rosenbaum/all rights reserved

    1. Andria, flit, flutter, fly — perfect description. Now I have The Sound of Music in my brain to stay a while! Love it.

    2. I like your alliteration with flit, flutter, fly.
      And using the word “whisper” is nice, too.

    3. Beautiful, Andria. Some of the best summer things are the things that signal the end of it!

  12. Monarch

    Stained-glass wings
    flit, flutter, fly
    whisper, Good-bye
    into Summer?s
    fading sky.

    Andria W. Rosenbaum/all rights reserved

    1. Andria, flit, flutter, fly — perfect description. Now I have The Sound of Music in my brain to stay a while! Love it.

    2. I like your alliteration with flit, flutter, fly.
      And using the word “whisper” is nice, too.

    3. Beautiful, Andria. Some of the best summer things are the things that signal the end of it!

  13. I love flit, flutter, fly/whisper — how fitting for the quiet passing of a butterfly.

  14. I love flit, flutter, fly/whisper — how fitting for the quiet passing of a butterfly.

  15. What is it about 3am? It happens more often than I would like. I love that you made the setting so cozy, Laura-“cocoon”!

    Rainbow in my window–
    Easier now to find
    the pot of gold.
    Linda Baie ? All Rights Reserved

    1. Linda, I love hanging prisms in my windows to achieve the very image your poem evokes. Thanks.

    2. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Great connection.
      I love all these different ideas people have about the pictures that Laura posts.

    3. Yes! This makes me think of how connecting anything to something natural makes it seem more beautiful… And I hate insomnia–I rarely have it, and when I do, I am never this peaceful about it. But thinking of the middle of the night made me think of when my daughters were infants and the quiet house at 3 a.m. was so peaceful. Made me wonder what would make me feel so at peace now if I were up at that ridiculous hour! I think a book and hot cocoa might do it:>)

  16. What is it about 3am? It happens more often than I would like. I love that you made the setting so cozy, Laura-“cocoon”!

    Rainbow in my window–
    Easier now to find
    the pot of gold.
    Linda Baie ? All Rights Reserved

    1. Linda, I love hanging prisms in my windows to achieve the very image your poem evokes. Thanks.

    2. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Great connection.
      I love all these different ideas people have about the pictures that Laura posts.

    3. Yes! This makes me think of how connecting anything to something natural makes it seem more beautiful… And I hate insomnia–I rarely have it, and when I do, I am never this peaceful about it. But thinking of the middle of the night made me think of when my daughters were infants and the quiet house at 3 a.m. was so peaceful. Made me wonder what would make me feel so at peace now if I were up at that ridiculous hour! I think a book and hot cocoa might do it:>)

  17. Our Kindness

    waves of colors
    flowing from words
    rainbows of hope
    loving steps of kindness
    golden sky dreams

    the pic is so beautiful

    Pome By Jessica

    1. I like the way you connected the colors to words.
      And rainbows are a great symbol for “hope.”

  18. Our Kindness

    waves of colors
    flowing from words
    rainbows of hope
    loving steps of kindness
    golden sky dreams

    the pic is so beautiful

    Pome By Jessica

    1. I like the way you connected the colors to words.
      And rainbows are a great symbol for “hope.”

    1. Yay for the wizards of science and nature! Our world is so amazing–it feels like magic much of the time.

    1. Yay for the wizards of science and nature! Our world is so amazing–it feels like magic much of the time.

  19. HOW LONG DID I SLEEP?

    I just woke up
    and looked outside.
    It is morning
    or eventide?

  20. HOW LONG DID I SLEEP?

    I just woke up
    and looked outside.
    It is morning
    or eventide?

  21. accordions
    of colors
    unfolding from
    every smiling
    face

    I rely love every ones poems today
    Poem by Jessica Bigi

  22. accordions
    of colors
    unfolding from
    every smiling
    face

    I rely love every ones poems today
    Poem by Jessica Bigi

  23. Love your poem, Laura — many good ones today! I saw stained glass and prisms…

    LUCIDITY

    Prism shards,
    glassy bloom,
    prison guards,
    lighted room,
    House of Cards,
    crystal tomb.

    - ? 2014, Matt Forrest Esenwine

  24. Love your poem, Laura — many good ones today! I saw stained glass and prisms…

    LUCIDITY

    Prism shards,
    glassy bloom,
    prison guards,
    lighted room,
    House of Cards,
    crystal tomb.

    - ? 2014, Matt Forrest Esenwine

  25. I could just melt right into your poem, Laura. It sounds blissful.

  26. I could just melt right into your poem, Laura. It sounds blissful.

  27. What a lovely lamp! As did many others, I thought of the beauty of rainbows when I saw this. It got me imagining a rainbow on a roadtrip, in a somewhat unsuccessful disguise.

    Traveling incognito,
    the rainbow lurked in the lobby
    as anonymously as brilliance allows.

    1. Debbie, quite clever. I like lurked/lobby and the oxymoron, if you will, of anonymous/brilliance.

  28. What a lovely lamp! As did many others, I thought of the beauty of rainbows when I saw this. It got me imagining a rainbow on a roadtrip, in a somewhat unsuccessful disguise.

    Traveling incognito,
    the rainbow lurked in the lobby
    as anonymously as brilliance allows.

    1. Debbie, quite clever. I like lurked/lobby and the oxymoron, if you will, of anonymous/brilliance.

  29. Kaleidoscope

    Magic mosaics and
    exploding confetti
    dancing on mirrors
    in the hands of a child.

    ~~Barbara J. Turner

  30. Kaleidoscope

    Magic mosaics and
    exploding confetti
    dancing on mirrors
    in the hands of a child.

    ~~Barbara J. Turner

  31. I was thinking of the whole American Idol idea and came up with this:

    OZ
    Seeking fame
    Screened behind technocolored lights
    We disguise
    But ultimately reveal
    Our very commonness.

  32. I was thinking of the whole American Idol idea and came up with this:

    OZ
    Seeking fame
    Screened behind technocolored lights
    We disguise
    But ultimately reveal
    Our very commonness.

  33. Great poem, Laura! Lots of great poems and so much fun to read as my bedtime story tonight.
    I thought this looked like a bunch of popsicles laying side-by-side.

    Popsicle, popsicle, popsicle, lick!
    Flavorful fruitiness down to the stick!

  34. Great poem, Laura! Lots of great poems and so much fun to read as my bedtime story tonight.
    I thought this looked like a bunch of popsicles laying side-by-side.

    Popsicle, popsicle, popsicle, lick!
    Flavorful fruitiness down to the stick!

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