Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!
Photo: cefalonia6
I was writing about duck tours (fascinating background of these DUKW-military-vehicles-cum-tourist-transports) yesterday, so I wanted to share a photo of these amphibious attractions. Here’s what this picture makes me think of:
1. The Jungle Cruise at Disney. The jokes are just as cheesy on the duck tours (but you learn lots of cool history, too).
2. Whales.
3. Quacking! My ears are still ringing from one of these tours several years ago.
These are what occurred to me first, but the fact that these DUKW vehicles played a large role in the Normany landing is what stuck for me.
Here’s my poem first draft.
Normandy
DUKW rolls through
grey waves
delivers firepower
disgorges innocence
returns for
broken pieces–Laura Purdie Salas
What does this ducky 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:>)
BOAT ON WHEELS
Boat on wheels
flailed around
in circular motion
hated dry land,
Back to the ocean.
(c) Charles Waters 2012 all rights reserved.
I have no creativity in me this morning, but I’m glad I took the Duck Tour here.
Haha–I’m sure that’s not true, Karen. But glad you stopped by and enjoyed the poetry tour, anyway!
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Duck Tales
if you were a duck
and I a boat—
I’d circle your feathers,
feather your moat.
Ooh, is it just me, or does that sound kind of sexy? And like an old-time musical number as well? I love those last two lines!
The Lame Game
A duck out of water
must find wings
and swim
against the waves
of life
-Pamela Ross
Pamela–Love the way you wrapped your lesson/thought in concrete wings!
Your picture brought to mind “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey so here goes:
Honking Won’t Help
With feathers fluffed
and bill held high,
across the road
go ducklings and I.
Hehe. Love the feathers fluffed. This makes me think of the bronze(?) little statues in Boston of this, and now I want to write a poem about them. Which give me an idea for a new poetry activity. Hmmm…thank you!
Ducks in Traffic
Webbed feet
tread on sticky tar;
tourists stare;
car-horns blare;
no rescuer
in sight.
I love the disjointed, harsh rhythm here, Buffy. Makes me feel anxious, a perfect complement to the content.
rolling sardine can,
self-marinated tourists:
locals duck these boats
(living in a city with duck boats — boston — packed with tourists year-round, i could never imagine traveling someplace else and subjecting myself to the well-worn paths these boats follow.)
Love your use of “duck” in the last line.
Ditto!
Love this, David. We did the Boston duck tour and adored it. I love to pick up a bit of local history through some kind of tour and then go explore the bits that intrigued me. Plus I love to be on the water in any form. We did a whale watching tour in Boston, too. Touristy–definitely. But fabulous. However, having grown up in Orlando and being weary over Disney World by age 7, I totally get where you’re coming from.
Wheels rumbling.
Motor grumbling.
Tour guide talking.
Still- beats walking.
Love this. Great last line.
Nice! Love motor grumbling. And love that last line–I’d be tempted to break it in two so there was even more of a pause after Still–
If You Live Heah
Love that dirty water?
Don’t take me in the Charles.
Tourists love the duck boats.
We hate the traffic snarls.
Fabulous title! Very clever poem. (See my response to delzey above…) Great voice here.
so nice that you got a Boston duck tour picture….the originals
duck tours
They let him drive the boat.
An old sailor,
in tourist garb–
reliving memories.
Oh, what a wonderful feel to this. A whole story in 14 words. Really beautiful. We did the Boston duck tour and loved it. I believe the first duck tours were actually in the Wisconsin Dells, though. They started right after WWII. Not positive, but I think so.
wow, my mom is from that area and never mentioned it. who would have guessed…
We’ve been to the Dells a number of times, but always in winter, so the duck tours weren’t running. Maybe all the locals thought the guy was crazy, but the website makes it sound like they were very popular even when they first started in, I think, 1946. At least, I believe that’s when he bought the first DUKW and then was up to a fleet of 38 or something by 1948. Savvy businessman…
True story from my childhood–they had this adopt-a-duck program from the park service. Sorry about the 16 words!
Duckling
We checked it out
like a library book.
It pooped and quacked.
We took it back.
–Kate Coombs (Book Aunt)
Despite the pooping and quacking…I’d love to borrow a duck like a book! Have you read the hilarious “Enslaved by Ducks” by Bob Tarte?
No–I will look for it! Sounds just right.
What?! People actually took the ducks home? Not like we “adopt” wildlife today by making a donation? That’s scary–and hysterical. Love the matter-of-fact tone your meter gives to this story. Definitely worth all 16 words:>)
This was in Winston Salem, NC. I take it they wanted people to raise the ducklings till they were grown and then bring them back to swim around on the lake in the park, whatever park that was. Of course, after a day or two, it became Mom’s duck. No wonder we returned it!
This is quacking me up (sorry). It cries out to be a picture book, seriously.
Laura, great poem, but sad. So, to change the mood:
Turista
Their eyes lock.
An hour’s worth
of patter.
On her postcard
home, one word–
Amare!
© Diane Mayr
Fantastic, Diane. I love how a tiny poem embodies how quickly love/lust can flare. And I can just picture that postcard!