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’ve been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC several times, and I’m moved by it every time. Like many things that lend themselves to poetry, it feels too big for words.
This image makes me think of several things:
- names
- vampires
- how used we get to things that are extraordinary
And here’s my first draft.
NOTE: I’m doing a poetry residency at an elementary school all week, so I’m not going to be able to comment on poems. I’ll be reading them, but I can’t respond.
It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)
12 Responses
Your poem is so powerful, Laura!
A Being
A Bone
A Bump on stone
Beyond us, lives forever roam
Oh, that word stone.…I love it in just about any poem. Great sounds in this.
Oh, my. What a photo prompt. Yes, those names.…etched so sharp. Beautiful poem, Laura.
My attempt:
Vietnam Memorial Wall
Poems weep–
reflectionsin puddles,
wet sidewalk,
polished
black granite
alonein the rain
cold.
Belated Gratitude
Unknown-
now honored and
respected,
no longer rejected.
Thank you.
I could not decide. But the image of all the names ON the image of people was so strong…I still am not done. There is more it seems to this image. It could easily be a book cover.
names
reflections of time
tell us to remember
not them
but why.
we are
as much a part
of them
as they are
of us.
by Donna JT Smith ©2019
I love the etching line Laura and the way you captured your images in the photo. My poetry is based on my younger brother’s service during the Vietnam War. He returned a functioning vegetable of sorts; his friend
since childhood committed suicide upon his return.
Sacrifices
Ultimate sacrifice recorded,
death so others live.
Survivors live
but with nothing more to give.
Wow, very powerful, Martha.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
A nation’s sorrow
Now visible
Never forget
So great a loss
Powerful poem Laura, that you captured suscinctly.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Bodies and souls of those remembered,
Lie engrained and written
In our responsibility…
Michelle Kogan
That photo is a poem!
hands trace history
faces reflect memory–
names engraved in stone
MEMORIAL
by Dianne Moritz
Souls lost
to a senseless war.…
Remembered forever
now on cold, black granite.
poem By Jessica Bigi
A Poets word for A Veteran
No reflections of words
mathematics the freedom you give
you have give life
you life can not be replace Thank You