Photo: Laura Salas
Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
I had such a great time at the Bemidji Library Book Festival! I led a two-hour nature-poetry writing workshop and did a storytime presentation. At the nature-poetry session, we took yarn circles and spread them around outside and carefully observed what was inside the circle. Then we wrote a Things to Do If You Are a… poem based on something in the circle. Here’s some lichen inside my yarn circle. This lichen makes me think of:
1)?twirling ball gowns
2)’stars in a barky sky
3) a skin disease
And here’s my?first draft:
Things to Do If You Are Lichen
Wear mustard-colored ruffles
Hide summer in your shadows
Dream of being a bouquet
–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:>)?
72 Responses
Touchup time!
Not to my lichen…
My roots are showing!
As a blonde I?m strikin’!
(lichen= likin’.…get it?)
Heh heh! Great wordplay. And yes, you are:>)
Ha! That’s what I used to tell my first graders when I asked them what color my hair was! They’d say white.…I’d counter with “blonde”! They were, of course, “correcter” than I.
See, the colored lichen is covering up the gray… but not well…
I feel like I have to explain this one — so maybe it isn’t a poem!
I love the play on gray and roots. And lichen/likin’. This is hilarious!
Thanks, Ellie!
Touchup time!
Not to my lichen…
My roots are showing!
As a blonde I?m strikin’!
(lichen= likin’.…get it?)
Heh heh! Great wordplay. And yes, you are:>)
Ha! That’s what I used to tell my first graders when I asked them what color my hair was! They’d say white.…I’d counter with “blonde”! They were, of course, “correcter” than I.
See, the colored lichen is covering up the gray… but not well…
I feel like I have to explain this one — so maybe it isn’t a poem!
I love the play on gray and roots. And lichen/likin’. This is hilarious!
Thanks, Ellie!
3 things I thought of:
a shepherd’s crook
Queen Anne’s lace
skin on an alligator or crocodile (I can actually see two beady eyes) 😉
Lacey Surprise
Meadows of white
waiting to be picked
stems slurping colored
water, your choice.
Achoo!
Fact: Bridesmaids decked out in pastels — bouquets of QA’s Lace to match — bride’s allergies calls for a last-minute change of plans.
Great story! Love those slurping stems…
3 things I thought of:
a shepherd’s crook
Queen Anne’s lace
skin on an alligator or crocodile (I can actually see two beady eyes) 😉
Lacey Surprise
Meadows of white
waiting to be picked
stems slurping colored
water, your choice.
Achoo!
Fact: Bridesmaids decked out in pastels — bouquets of QA’s Lace to match — bride’s allergies calls for a last-minute change of plans.
Great story! Love those slurping stems…
Lichen
A yellow beard
appeared,
more scraggly
than he feared.
Looked kind of
weird.
?Kate Coombs
Perfect! Nice interpretation!
Heeheehee–A tree’s grooming problems:>)
Lichen
A yellow beard
appeared,
more scraggly
than he feared.
Looked kind of
weird.
?Kate Coombs
Perfect! Nice interpretation!
Heeheehee–A tree’s grooming problems:>)
A panting of mother nature
A panting of mother nature
The Uninvited Guest
He tip-toed down to dinner
leaving a trail of
golden footprints
for us to follow.
Andria W. Rosenbaum/ all right reserved
They do make neat footprints…King Midas’ maybe?
Oooh, a mystery guest! Love the image of golden footprints.
The Uninvited Guest
He tip-toed down to dinner
leaving a trail of
golden footprints
for us to follow.
Andria W. Rosenbaum/ all right reserved
They do make neat footprints…King Midas’ maybe?
Oooh, a mystery guest! Love the image of golden footprints.
Laura I like your poem mine might be a word over hope that’s okay I rely like every ones poems 🙂
Little Mouse
Saffron buttons
With a blue scarf
Hop across
golden stones
A tree trunk home
Tea at nine
Lovely descriptions, and my favorite line? The last one. So inviting.
Oh, I LOVE the fairy tale feel of this. When I was little, I so wanted mice to wear scarves and hats and sip tea at the mini-furniture I made for them. This takes me back. Love “saffron.”
I like your imagination — a little tree house home for a mouse. Nice.
Laura I like your poem mine might be a word over hope that’s okay I rely like every ones poems 🙂
Little Mouse
Saffron buttons
With a blue scarf
Hop across
golden stones
A tree trunk home
Tea at nine
Lovely descriptions, and my favorite line? The last one. So inviting.
Oh, I LOVE the fairy tale feel of this. When I was little, I so wanted mice to wear scarves and hats and sip tea at the mini-furniture I made for them. This takes me back. Love “saffron.”
I like your imagination — a little tree house home for a mouse. Nice.
Mom Won’t Be So Calm
Mustard
d
r
i
p
p
e
d
all down my shirt.
Hot dog’s gone -
what’s for
dessert?
Love the poem and how you wrote it!
this is wonderful
It’s like you know my husband:>) Love the shape aspect of it!
The way you wrote dripped is perfect.
Mom Won’t Be So Calm
Mustard
d
r
i
p
p
e
d
all down my shirt.
Hot dog’s gone -
what’s for
dessert?
Love the poem and how you wrote it!
this is wonderful
It’s like you know my husband:>) Love the shape aspect of it!
The way you wrote dripped is perfect.
Grow, little lichen,
grow your best.
A hummingbird needs you
for her nest.
very nice
Aw, this is so cute and evil at the same time. So encouraging, but then I’m picturing that hummingbird clawing or beaking that lichen right off the bark. Take that, lichen! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!
Grow, little lichen,
grow your best.
A hummingbird needs you
for her nest.
very nice
Aw, this is so cute and evil at the same time. So encouraging, but then I’m picturing that hummingbird clawing or beaking that lichen right off the bark. Take that, lichen! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!
Well, I’m stuck again, thinking of only what I am literally seeing.
So, I give up. I will pretend I’m writing non-fiction for little kids.
Lichen grows most anywhere,
but thrives the best
in woodland air.
(Hm-m‑m. I think there’s much more to say. I’ll keep thinking on it. )
Not a thing wrong with literal, Pat! I love this–when I read it aloud, I picture a whole collection of little verses like this that together describe a whole ecosystem. And I’m picturing kids chanting them while they jump rope! What a fun way that would be to learn stuff:>)
Thanks, Laura.
That’s a neat idea. It would probably be pretty hard to write very many rhyming couplets about lichen, but a Forest — wide open possibilities.
Well, I’m stuck again, thinking of only what I am literally seeing.
So, I give up. I will pretend I’m writing non-fiction for little kids.
Lichen grows most anywhere,
but thrives the best
in woodland air.
(Hm-m‑m. I think there’s much more to say. I’ll keep thinking on it. )
Not a thing wrong with literal, Pat! I love this–when I read it aloud, I picture a whole collection of little verses like this that together describe a whole ecosystem. And I’m picturing kids chanting them while they jump rope! What a fun way that would be to learn stuff:>)
Thanks, Laura.
That’s a neat idea. It would probably be pretty hard to write very many rhyming couplets about lichen, but a Forest — wide open possibilities.
What a great photo. Lovely color and composition!
After the Gold Rush
Left behind–
golden flecks
of glittering dreams
fragile specks
of what
might have been.
~~Barbara J. Turner
Thanks, Barbara–wish I had the lichen in sharper focus. Oh well. What a beautiful, melancholy poem. I especially love lines 2–4. Powerful!
What a great photo. Lovely color and composition!
After the Gold Rush
Left behind–
golden flecks
of glittering dreams
fragile specks
of what
might have been.
~~Barbara J. Turner
Thanks, Barbara–wish I had the lichen in sharper focus. Oh well. What a beautiful, melancholy poem. I especially love lines 2–4. Powerful!
I love this prompt and the poems it inspired. I usually don’t pick a favorite, but Little Mouse is just adorable.
I ignored the lichen and went with the rope hanging on the tree.
Tree Jewelry
Sturdy Branch wears a rope bracelet
sporting a rubber-tire, child-laced
charm on her arm.
Penny Parker Klostermann 2014
Oh, cool! Love the extended metaphor here.…
I love this prompt and the poems it inspired. I usually don’t pick a favorite, but Little Mouse is just adorable.
I ignored the lichen and went with the rope hanging on the tree.
Tree Jewelry
Sturdy Branch wears a rope bracelet
sporting a rubber-tire, child-laced
charm on her arm.
Penny Parker Klostermann 2014
Oh, cool! Love the extended metaphor here.…
OMG! I was getting ready for bed when I remembered it was Thursday! I nearly missed 15 Words day! A little quick lichen research and this is the result. Have a great summer everyone!
The O’Biont Twins
These two
brothers–
Myc & Phyc
entwined.
Clearly their
life-long
relationship
precludes
separation.
Diane Mayr, all rights reserved
Whew–just in time! I love this twin story! You know, I love poetry for poetry’s sake, but I’m being increasingly struck by what a great, fun teaching tool it can be! Love entwined…
OMG! I was getting ready for bed when I remembered it was Thursday! I nearly missed 15 Words day! A little quick lichen research and this is the result. Have a great summer everyone!
The O’Biont Twins
These two
brothers–
Myc & Phyc
entwined.
Clearly their
life-long
relationship
precludes
separation.
Diane Mayr, all rights reserved
Whew–just in time! I love this twin story! You know, I love poetry for poetry’s sake, but I’m being increasingly struck by what a great, fun teaching tool it can be! Love entwined…