“Day 5 is upon us: clear your foggy mind, embrace absence, and paint with words.”
The poetry prompt for day five of Writing 201 is “fog.”
The form is “elegy.”
The device is “metaphor.”
Being visually oriented I headed straight to my photo archives to give me inspiration for today’s poetry prompt. I had been out taking pictures on a foggy winter’s day a couple of weeks ago. It was fairly clear in some places but quite thick with fog in others. The mountains/hills in the background of the first photo are totally obscured.
The first words that leaked out of my brain formed a haiku…
Winter’s frozen breath
hangs suspended over snow
whispering, “Hush now.”
Then another poem formed in my mind, but it wasn’t elegy…
Winter’s frozen breath, thick, suspended,
whispers, “Hush now. Sleep.”
Earth’s deep white blanket envelopes all,
Tucked-in tree and leaf.
Finally I came up with something that perhaps resembles elegy with its characteristic sense of loss…
Summer lies smothered by a heavy white quilt,
Her breath suspended frozen and thick.
Awaiting the arrival of spring mournfully
Forced to relinquish all that is past.
Each bud that was born, each flower that had bloomed,
Each leaf, each tender blade of grass,
Relentlessly shivered and silenced, withered, now gone,
Wrenched from Summer’s weakening grasp.
New buds to birth, new flowers to bloom, fresh and unfamiliar,
Forced to embrace all that is new causing fear and apprehension.
Although I’m enjoying stretching myself, all of these Writing 201: Poetry challenges confirm that, for me at least, pictures are so much easier than words!
The pictures are great. I get cold just looking at them. Plus it doesn’t snow where I live
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Thank you! I’m glad that you like them, pleased they evoke a feeling, and happy they can provide a little weather out of the ordinary for you! 🙂
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Yay! Hey I hope that you don’t mind but I’d like to invite you to my blog at http://www.insanitybeautiful.wordpress.com
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Just stopped by… Very nice poetry!
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Lovely, atmospheric pictures and interesting to watch your words taking shape too.
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Thank you! It took over a day before the elegy idea began to form. I still feel like I missed the mark on the poetry assignment, but felt the poem was done and so was I 🙂
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I think you have a talent for it. I’m not a poet, but you’ve inspired me to think that if I spend the same amount of time practicing writing as I do practicing photography, my skills would probably improve!
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Thank you! I think wherever we focus our attention, energy and forward motion is achieved. Maybe not at lightning speed, but it happens 🙂
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Breathtaking photos.
You’re really doing exceedingly well with poetry. Serious.
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Thank you so much, Lucile! I was just commenting to someone else that I felt that I had fallen short on the assignment, but thought the poem was done and so was I. 🙂
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You are welcome. Sometimes we’re just too self-critical, aren’t we? Your poem was beautiful.
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You’re right about the self criticism, those ANTs (automatic, negative thoughts) in our head. Thanks again!
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You’re welcome.
I like the ANTs term. I’m going to use it. Thanks!
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You’re welcome. I didn’t make up the ANTS acronym. It’s a favorite of Dr. Mark Hyman, as is the term frankenfood to describe modern processed and GMO foods.
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I now nothing about poetry, so I can’t comment much on the elegy. However, I very much liked how the haiku moves into the second poem. All three paint vivid images of winter.
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Thank you. The second poem was the direct result of trying to expand the haiku into something longer.
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The pictures are awesome! The snow is so beautiful and the poetry makes it all amazing 😀
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Thank you so much!
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