Rainbow Promise
On wooded trails,
Margaret Simon, draft
under the wild strawberry
a fresh fern unfurls,
new leaves replace old
heartshapes of gold,
a forest in rebirth.
On a recent yoga Women’s Wellness Retreat, I collected things as I walked a forest trail. The instructor suggested collecting a rainbow. My collection includes an unripe blackberry, a piece of dead wood, a fiddlehead fern, a few wildflowers and leaves. When we stopped for a short break, I arranged them into something that pleased me and took this photo. I left most of it in the forest where I found it. I kept the heart-shaped leaf, fern fiddlehead, and the purple wildflower to press and tape into my notebook. We poets are pretty good at assigning symbolism to things. If this collage arrangement speaks to you in some way, write a small poem in the comments. Be sure to support other writers with comments as well.
I am planning a National Poetry Month project, but This Photo Wants to be a Poem will continue to be part of it. Consider adding this practice to your own NPM project. Follow my blog to get updates in your inbox. If you teach, you can use this prompt with students. Please share students’ poems as well.
I will also be posting links each day to the Kidlit Progressive Poem. I’m excited for April, my favorite month of the year.
I love the golden leaf, your collection, your poem’s tribute to nature, Margaret. Here’s my very quick write!
Nature’s Gifts
Rainbow brightens the afternoon sky
after harsh rains cloud the light,
I snap the harbor draped in fog
my photo in nature’s black and white.
Clouds so puffy they paint the sky
I frame the photo to get it right,
how do I share the beauty I see
this present, this art, this glorious sight?
Janet Clare Fagal © draft, 2023
Lovely, Janet. My favorite line:
“I snap the harbor draped in fog
my photo in nature’s black and white.”
Janet: I like nature’s black and white, and your question, which is the question of many… how do I share the beauty I see? Lovely!
I relate to your last two lines, Janet. My attempts, whether in word or photo, are just hints at the impression of the real thing.
Nature’s Gifts is a gift of the season, Janet. Wonderful line: snap the harbor draped in fog. I would love to see your revision.
I absolutely love this picture and the composition you created. Your words “a fresh fern unfurls” are such a delight to say. Thank you, Margaret. I wrote this after listening to the news this morning.
Today
color collides
crafting a message
of love
in a world
that sometimes feels
so bleak
Hi Rose: The collision reflects the world today… thank you.
Oh, how we need that message today, Rose! And I love “color collides/crafting”
Rose, your poem speaks of reality in a sensitive way. Love is a beautiful theme.
Lovely photo, Margaret, and I love lines 2&3… today I tried a nonet:
Out
of dull
gray sand, mold,
bugs, worm castings
blooms endless forms of
beauty: green furls, yellow
petals, red berries, purple
bells, orange hearts, white fists, veins and
shapes to quench and delight a lifetime
© Karen Eastlund, draft
well done, Karen, and very visual
Beautiful, Karen. Thank you. I like thinking of beauty “quenching.”
This poem could stand alone without the image with all your descriptive imagery.
Karen, your colorful poem will delight readers of poetry. You move from “dull” to “beauty” so smoothly.
I love your natural arrangement and hope-filled poem, Margaret.
Nature’s colors
never clash,
signal seasons
always right
on time.
Jane, the two word lines work. Gives the poem rhythm when read aloud.
Very nice, Jane!
I like “always right on time “ but I’m afraid with the warming of the planet, on time is changing.
I like how you focused on colors to discuss the seasons and nature. “never clash” & “signal” are strong verbs.
This is a challenge for me, but I’ll take the plunge. Your collection is extraordinary. Thank you for the opportunity.
An Attractive Combination
Where nature’s heart meet
Each color shouting to be heard
A clash
A bang
They all dance in the wild.
Juliette, I love the action and sounds of your poem!
Oooh! Dancing in the wild is a great image.
I agree. Dance in the wild is a great line. Thanks for taking the plunge.
The last line in your poem is wonderful.
[…] « Slice of Life Challenge Day 29: This Photo […]
Margaret, your photo is so bright and inviting that I spent time trying to search for words that spoke to me. I will share your photo at my blog and when finished post it for PF & SOLSC! I especially enjoyed the format, rhyming, and heart-shaped word attributed to the leaf.