Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Photo: Flickr.com user “The Jamoker”
This life preserver makes me think of:
1. My cell phone. I’m without my phone this week, and I don’t like the disconnectedness of that. My husband had a medical emergency on the way to work yesterday, and he couldn’t reach me. Of course, I like to be somewhat disconnected at times, like when I want to work on my writing but I have a million emails to return. But I love being reachable to my family. All the time. So my cell phone is a lifeline for me.
2. A horse in a floodzone. The city of Duluth, on Lake Superior a couple of hours north of me, flooded over the past couple of days. Some zoo animals drowned, which breaks my heart. One miniature horse, Darla, swam her way to safety, though. And this image put a picture in my head of a picture book where a cute pony is floating down the street in a life preserver.
3. The nautical clothes that were in and out of fashion when I was in junior high and high school. Some were cute. Others…not so much. Ahoy!
Here’s my poem first draft:
Sea Horse Current Events
Today on 14th Street,
she gallops past scallops,
grazes on seaweed,
high-fives a horseshoe crab
–Laura Purdie Salas
What does this picture make YOU think of? Whatever enters your mind, jot a quick 15 words or less poem and share it in the comments! Remember, your poem doesn’t have to describe the actual picture. Feel free to comment on each others’ poems and tell what your favorite part is:>)
for richer or poorer
a rich red ring
means many
things—
from a deadly bite
to a life-saving buoy,
I’M AN ORANGE AND WHITE STRIPED DONUT
who’s mainly an observer
but when pressed to action
I’m a _ _.
(c) Charles Waters 2012 all rights reserved.
Such fun to be visiting 15 words today, Laura. Here’s some advice!
Mom Told Me
When
you’re at
the pool
never yell
for help
unless
you’re
really
drowning.
Butter rum and wintergreen
Snapped in her purse
Salve to my hungry soul.
Oh, Grandma! This is so dead on!
Bury My Heart in Brighton Beach
Discarded
like seaweed,
cut glass, and
condoms,
I sink into the sand,
forgotten, used, broken
-Pamela Ross
Don’t be so glum, chum, also found in the sand are polished sea glass jewels and sand dollars–you’re sharing the riches of the earth’s treasure chest. So what, if there’s a condom or two.
Smile–a Pamela Ross quote is at KK’s Kwotes today! It is taken from one of Pam’s comments on this blog last week!
Oh my goodness. Having a cosmic moment here, Diane. I just came back to this page and read the poems posted. I avoid looking at them before I send up mine because I don’t want to feel nervous about the quality of my content. I just saw yours and saw I opened my poem with the word “discarded,” just as -your- lovely piece begins! I hope my mind didn’t see your work before I dropped mine onto the page. CALLING DR. JUNG! (I like Jung better than Freud.)
Thanks for brightening my day and reminding me I am your Kwote of the Day. Finally. Someone thinks something I say matters. Can I give you the e-mail addresses for the other Rosses in my life? xoxoxo
The photo of the life preserver made me think of protection. Now you follow the dots of my 15 silly words because I don’t want people to think I’ve got a condom complex.
-PBR
WELL-DRESSED BEACH
wears gold sand
blue surf
paddle boats
buckets, shovels
and always
flashy pendant of O
-Violet Nesdoly
Love the analogy here, Violet!
imagine
your whole life dedicated
with one purpose, one hope:
to never be
employed.
(i thought my first one was a bit of a downer. but it *was* the first thing that came to mind. actually, with both of these, where is my head at anyway?)
Ha! I’m reading this one first, so I’ll have to see what your other one is in a minute. This one may seem slightly melancholy itself, but then again, it’s what we would wish for for soldiers, cops, and all safety equipment…
we threw everything
rope, poles, a life preserver
you went down smiling
Ooh, this IS dark. Love that last line–so unexpected and a bit creepy. If I read it literally, it makes me invent all kinds of backstory for this character who presumably ignored all the offers of help and smiled calmly and he/she died…
I sit around
and wait.
If needed-
don’t want to be late!!!
I love the brisk lines. There’s a sense of “can’t talk now, must be ready” attitude:>)
Define Emergency
A broken heart
or a broken leg.
Drowning in a pool
or drowning in sorrow.
Nice…I love this technique, though I can’t remember the name of it, where you use the same intro word or phrase once or twice and then use it in a different manner.
Love gallops past scallops, Laura. Here’s mine:
On those rare mornings . . .
“raspberry red
lemon yellow
orange orange”
Trix
Froot Loops
sugar for breakfast -
bowl of fun!
Thanks, ellie. I love that you saw cereal here! Love those last two lines, and I will now be hearing the twangy-sproingy music of that commercial in my head all day (no thank you for that!).
Lifesaver
Won’t someone
please start
to drown?
Then I will be
at last at sea.
–Kate Coombs (Book Aunt)
Love this! The things we wish for in order to be able to use our gifts. I really like the word order of your last two lines and the meter it creates.
A great little poem, Laura! From the pun in the title right through to the high-fives!
LIFESAVERS
Discarded
yellow, orange, greens.
Conspicuous in her
smile, the tip
of her tongue, red.
Thanks!
Oh, this is good. The line breaks work especially well here. Love the choice of conspicuous!