Photographs fascinate me. How a beam of light can change a perspective. How switching to black and white (which can now be done with a click of a button) can focus on a single aspect.
My friend and writing group partner, Molly Hogan, loves taking photos in the early morning. I love the morning, too, but in Maine, I imagine mornings are quite cold. Molly embraces the cold and manages to capture amazing detail in her photographs. She often posts photos on her blog and will write a poem to them. For a treat, click on over and scroll.
This week she posted this photo on Facebook. It’s dandelion season and for Molly, that means lots of photo study of the fascinating flower. In this photo, she took a close up of the dandelion with dew still present and shifted it to black and white. The effect is perfect for a poem or two.
We are all stardust
Margaret Simon, draft
making our way
to sparkling.
Leave your own small poem in the comments. Please respond to other writers. We are all in this together.
Reflections on the Teche 
Making our way to sparkling is beautiful! I love it….and hope it’s true!
Oh, your poem is perfection, Margaret. Thanks for sharing my photo as a prompt. I’m sharing the poem I wrote when I first shared this photo–hope that’s not cheating! (If I get a chance, I’ll try to come up with something new later.)
Youth’s bloom a golden memory,
her heart aquiver,
Dandelion sighs,
releases her arrowed seeds
to lift and fly
to unknown destinations
in the wild spring breeze.
I love “releases her arrowed seeds” and how the dandelion is personified as a female. Thanks for this amazing photo.
When I saw this photo yesterday, I loved the black and white. You are so gifted, Molly. For me, this poem is a metaphor on how we can continue to impact life even after our “youth’s bloom.” Where will my “arrowed seeds” land? Lovely.
For Margaret,
YES! And some of us have a harder time remembering to sparkle some days!! Lovely. Have you ever seen the show Peter and the Star Catcher……it is a musical about Peter Pan and sort of a spoof. However a catchy song is about “starstuff’……and your poem brought back that happy memory.
For Molly,
When we send out our seeds….in whatever form they are: song, art, word, music, dance, invention, love, caring, etc. we never know where they will land. And if we keep them unto ourselves, unless we are as lucky as, say, Emily Dickinson, they will never be found. And, indeed, the old saying about youth being wasted on the young is wise, but also important. I think we are never too old to change, grow, challenge, endure, create. All these thoughts came bursting from your lovely poem.
Really beautiful, Molly. I love “her heart aquiver”
organic
dew washed
dawn dried
fairy feather-dusters
ready for
pick-up
“Fairy feather-dusters” wonder-filled word choice.
Love the whimsy of this one, too, Linda!
Such fun word play from the alliteration to the last line!
I love the whimsy. Yes to fairy feather-dusters, Linda. My friend Angela Stockman and others’ of hers have created these fairy/gnome “villages” in the crooks of tress on their front lawns to bring joy to the children passers-by in their neighborhoods near Buffalo, NY. Pure delight and I am sure if they could, they would want to use your dusters. (Maybe some of their fb postings are public if you are interested in looking.)
Molly is such a gifted photographer, and I find myself in such awe when I see her images.
Oh, how was all need to sparkle! And stardust is perfect for this one.
This morning I read the words “lingering in hope” and I knew I wanted to use that line in a poem. I always check in here on Thursday mornings, and when I saw this picture, I knew I wanted to work that line in here somewhere. Here are my morning thoughts:
a dew-drop morning
lingering in hope
waiting for wishes
Hope you have a sparkling day!
That is supposed to say “how we all need to sparkle!”
I love how you worked the line into your poem. The dandelion waits for wishes. There seem to be more wishes than dandelions these days.
Leigh Anne, I love how you worked wishes into your poem and the line “lingering in hope.” Oh..and “dew-drop morning”, too. Well, I guess I love it all!
PS Thanks for your kind words!
Leigh Anne,
This past Mon and Tues we were with our grandkids. I saw some dandelions in the lawn’s edge and pointed them out. My granddaughter (4) said, “oh those are wishflowers,” hence my title and the connection to my poem. I think we feel similarly in that we really are lingering in hope/waiting for wishes which seems like a dream for a magic potion (vaccine) these days.
Yes, waiting for wishes…perfect
Thanks for the lovely photo, Molly and the prompt, Margaret.
Wishflower’s Mystery
Wishes wrapped in fuzzy fur
of tangled dreams that never were,
scattered through sweetsummer air,
seeds of hope fly everywhere.
Janet Clare Fagal, draft
All Rights Reserved
Fuzzy fur and seeds of hope wrap this poem in a nice bow.
fuzzy fur…I used to love the tickle of the fluff….now, I weed my lawn of these monsters. But, good memories!