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.
I adore real trees, but I am drawn to sculptures of trees, too, like this metal one on the mall in Washington, DC. That’s me standing beside it, so you get some scale. It’s beautiful!
This image makes me think of several things:
- HR Pufnstuf and the Living Island trees
- a post-apocalyptic world
- couldn’t telephone poles be prettier?
And here’s my first draft. My thoughts went to the weather-warped and bird-and-insect-damaged trees you see sometimes, and how beautiful they still are!
I have missed you guys! I’m happy to be home and working today, and I look forward to your poems!
It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)
35 Responses
Oh I love your poem, Laura!
I was captured by the dots…
Dots and spots
keen private eyes
fill the void
with sneaky spies!
Those dots are mysterious looking!
This is clever, Suzanne! Aren’t those dots interesting? Most of the filters I use just do things to colors and line that already exist in an image, but a few, like this one, add something graphically. I love that you spotted the dots and ran with them!
Oh, what a tree! It’s stunning! There’s a lovely rhythm and mood to your poem today, Laura. Here’s mine!
If trees were made of metal…
imagine the surprise
when woodpecker’s
fast striking beak
hits intended prize!
I was thinking about the sound of a woodpecker on that also! Yes, just imagine the surprise!
Thank you, Molly! I’m hearing the clank and imagining the beak all crumnpled up like in a cartoon:>)
Life imitates art
until art copies life
beauty in the eye
of a
sculptor
god
We can try to imitate life, and it is pretty, but never as perfect in its imperfections as the real thing!
Ooooh, that last line is so unexpected, Linda! Makes me stop and ponder!
I like your rhymes today, Laura. I went to the online dictionary…
Metal is material
with good conductivity.
A metal tree
conducts a bird
symphony.
Love the conductivity and symphony here! Nice play!
Oh…nice! I was thinking about the wind blowing and ensuing cacophony!! I like your audio better 🙂
I think the birds would have to be playing heavy-metal (hehe) music. Love the word play of conducting in its two ways!
Welcome home Laura. Loved your verse, especially the last stanza! The first thing I noticed from the filtered photo was the “light” around you. Laura’s Aura were the first two words that came into my mind; I couldn’t resist.
Laura’s Aura
Leafless, lifeless tree,
tiny me
aglow,
sharing warmth
life springs forth:
Rebirth!
Love your title!!
Aw, thanks, Martha! Yeah, the filter gave me that otherworldly glow. I love your take on it!
Love your poem, Laura! The ending is delightful. That poem needs to be published.
Landscape Planning
Strident voices
argue choices:
Trees that crumble
into dust,
Or metal ones
that only rust?
Loved the argument and rhyme!
I love metal, but hate rust, so I know which what I’m voting for! I love the crumbling into dust part…
Laura, I cant post. It says I’ve already posted and it’s a duplicate, but the original isn’t showing up. I’ve tried fooling it by adding more text and by switching to my computer vs iPad. Won’t go still.
Let’s try this — a reply to my comment!
I’ve written a few tree poems lately, but no tree sculpture ones, reminds me of the signal towers along the highways they try to camouflage as huge spruce trees. This kind would be better
All Weather All Purpose
Owl’s home with
Aluminum siding,
Is
Squirrel’s playground -
Galvanized sliding
Is
Woodpecker’s delightful
Steel drum tiding!
By Donna JTSmith
What fun rhymes, Donna, and playful images. Love it! I am on the app, and your comments look fine. I can’t tell whether they’re appearing on the regular site until I get home.…
Ha! I love it! Something for everyone!
Wonderful rhyming Cindy.
This is brilliant. What a picture and what a sound. Especially early in the mornings, which woodpeckers seem to love.
Lake February
Ice crack spreads,
grows branches.
Geese march across
flattened trees
river deltas
promises of spring.
Oh, what a gorgeous scene and metaphor!
WHO COULD LOVE A METAL TREE?
by Dianne Moritz
Not me!
No leafy limbs to climb, embrace.
Trees radiate pure beauty, grace.
I like the decisive voice in this, Dianne! No waffling:>)
poem by Jessica Bigi
don’t fill hearts
with concrete-words
fill hears with wisdom
growing knowledge trees
for the world to climb
Such lovely advice, Jessica!
Something eerie about that tree! And the little glow around you: did you just get there, like a Star Trek character beaming down?
Metal trees sing:
high chimes, low thrums,
touched by wind
and bird-wing drums.
—Kate Coombs
Transporter! I love that you start with the metal trees and then move to nature stuff…“bird-wing drums” is lovely!
Laura you’re poem was wonderful especially that last line! I love how there’s a glow around you in the picture, like an aura.
Heavy Metal
Petrified?
Electrified?
Metal branches Oxidized?
I’m just glad to be outside!
Thanks, Jean! I love your combo of manmade and nature words:>)