Play(ne)ground [15 Words or Less Poems]

Hello, and welcome! Poetry Month is almost over, but we celebrate poetry year-round here:>) I’m happy you’re here for 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)!

Here’s my final pic taken in March on the way home from South Bend, IN to Minneapolis, MN. Next week, I’ll do something totally non-airport-related, I promise!

play airplane 15wol
Photo: Laura P. Salas

This image makes me think of:

  1. the little wings flight attendants used to stick on kids’ shirts when they flew
  2. a pig on the loose at an airport (at a glance, the pic looks like a pig to me!)
  3. Ms. Frizzle’s Magic Schoolbus–did it ever fly

This week, this indoor airport playground made me think about swinging, and how much it feels like flying. Here’s my first draft.

 soft landing 15wol

It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count)

21 Responses

  1. whirring
    swirling
    lopping
    upside
    down
    mom
    my
    wee bales
    wellbeing
    down
    tubes
    flying
    into
    space

    Poem By Jessica Bigi

    1. I love the looping upside down. I feel like I’m back at the McDonald’s Playspace with my kids :>)

      1. whirring
        swirling
        lopping
        upside
        down
        mom
        my
        Wheedles
        wellbeing
        down
        tubes
        flying
        into
        space

        Poem By Jessica Bigi

        Wheedles

  2. BOYS’ BUG GUIDE

    Need an “ugh!” bug?

    New! Improved!
    Latest version!
    Watch for it
    on your next excursion!

    1. The word “excursion” just makes this poem, Cindyb. I love the word, anyway, plus here it plants “exoskeleton” in my head, since it’s a bug!

    2. A new species Cindy. Not just any bug, but a brown one with golden wings, tail and unique identifying spots on its side. A standout on any excursion.

  3. Laura, love the image your verse displays. Jumping from the swing, propelling yourself forward and hoping for a soft landing. My sister and I used to do that from our front porch swing and mother would declare we were going to fall right through the porch floor.

    Fantasy Dream or Nightmare?

    All have deplaned
    no one about
    just me,
    chocolate and caramel
    eating my way out.

      1. Thank you Lauren, and I like the rhythm and rhyme of your verse. Memories for sure. I now prefer dark chocolate but the picture makes she milk chocolate look as good as it tasted in earlier years.

  4. Your poem brings back memories, Laura. I blame the writing on the wall for my crazy little poem today.

    High in the sky -
    kids on the fly
    tethered with strings,
    testing their wings.

  5. Kids fly high.
    Jump to the sky.
    I won’t come down.
    Not now!

    written by Megan A.
    in Mrs. Harvey’s class

    1. Welcome, Megan! I love the assertiveness of that last line. I can hear my kids saying, “No way!” Thanks for playing 15 Words or Less :>)

  6. Fly
    By Matthew

    Fly High Airplane
    Engines
    Roaring,
    Let’s go,
    for a trip

    1. Yes! Sounds are underused in poems, Matthew. I love that you made me hear those engines roaring:>)

  7. Forever High
    By Olha

    Forever high.
    Forever high.
    Always in the sky.
    Forever high.
    I will always fly high!

    1. Thank you, Olha–I love the repetition and the way your poem is bursting with that long i sound!

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