Beads [15 words or less]

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!

15WOLs

Here’s a pic from a chandelier in our hotel on our recent drum corps trip to NY. This image makes me think of:

1) Bubbles in the sea
2) a super-fancy necklace (hey, anybody remember the Empress Carlotta (sp?) episode of the Dick Van Dyke show?)
3) fish eggs

And here’s my?first draft:

Mermaid Tears

I miss you so much

My tears rise and grow legs

to pace the empty shore

–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

Now it’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS!??(Title doesn’t count toward word count:>)?

 

 

132 Responses

  1. Gates of gold but
    light shines through
    All that money can’t
    keep me from you

    I don’t know why but this made me think of a fairytale where a poor guy is in love with a princess? Lovely picture and I LOVE your poem, Ms. Salas, I can practically taste the loneliness!

    1. Thanks, Amelia:>) I like that this poem leaves me wanting more. I feel a big story behind it. I’m not sure (until I read your note) whether it’s a love poem or a stalker poem–kind of like the lyrics to The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which some people interpret as a love song but when you read the lyrics, it’s clearly a stalker poem. Isn’t it funny what different people bring to their readings of a same poem?

  2. Gates of gold but
    light shines through
    All that money can’t
    keep me from you

    I don’t know why but this made me think of a fairytale where a poor guy is in love with a princess? Lovely picture and I LOVE your poem, Ms. Salas, I can practically taste the loneliness!

    1. Thanks, Amelia:>) I like that this poem leaves me wanting more. I feel a big story behind it. I’m not sure (until I read your note) whether it’s a love poem or a stalker poem–kind of like the lyrics to The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which some people interpret as a love song but when you read the lyrics, it’s clearly a stalker poem. Isn’t it funny what different people bring to their readings of a same poem?

  3. 1
    if I tossed
    a golden Penny
    into a frozen pound
    would it turn into
    silver dimes

    2
    how many
    eyes hive I ?
    asked a cat
    as he looked
    into the fun house
    mirror
    mellow-nouns

    Poems by Jessica Bigi

    Laura I love the pic and your poem

    1. These are both fabulous. I especially love the first one, assuming pound was supposed to be pond.
      I am sorry, but I am unsure what “mellow-nouns” means. Wonderful image of the reflected cat eyes.

    2. Jessica, I like the idea that something gold might turn cold, shiny, silver in a frozen pond? And it made me think of fall leaves encased in ice, too. I wasn’t sure what that last line in poem 2 was supposed to be…

  4. 1
    if I tossed
    a golden Penny
    into a frozen pound
    would it turn into
    silver dimes

    2
    how many
    eyes hive I ?
    asked a cat
    as he looked
    into the fun house
    mirror
    mellow-nouns

    Poems by Jessica Bigi

    Laura I love the pic and your poem

    1. These are both fabulous. I especially love the first one, assuming pound was supposed to be pond.
      I am sorry, but I am unsure what “mellow-nouns” means. Wonderful image of the reflected cat eyes.

    2. Jessica, I like the idea that something gold might turn cold, shiny, silver in a frozen pond? And it made me think of fall leaves encased in ice, too. I wasn’t sure what that last line in poem 2 was supposed to be…

  5. Good morning Laura, what a lush photo. My mind immediately jumped to a morning ritual.

    A Delicious Awakening

    Shades of brown
    wheat straw to Columbian dark roast
    their fate
    liquid gold/morning toast.

    I cheated a bit “with” the slash!

    1. I had to look back at the photo, but the beads could be coffee beans or grains of wheat. What a lovely breakfast you’ve painted with words.

  6. Good morning Laura, what a lush photo. My mind immediately jumped to a morning ritual.

    A Delicious Awakening

    Shades of brown
    wheat straw to Columbian dark roast
    their fate
    liquid gold/morning toast.

    I cheated a bit “with” the slash!

    1. I had to look back at the photo, but the beads could be coffee beans or grains of wheat. What a lovely breakfast you’ve painted with words.

  7. Bead Store

    Porcelain, glass,
    silver, brass.
    Greens and blues,
    shimmering hues.
    Bins and strings
    of possibility.

    Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

    The only tears in a bead store are mine when I find there are more coveted beads than I have money! 😉

    1. Those last two lines! I love the universality of those, following all your specific kinds of beads. You know it’s what knitters see in yarn stores and artists see in paint stores, etc.

    2. Cute Diane. My neighbor is a beading enthusiast and I’ve heard your lament from her lips a number of times.

  8. Bead Store

    Porcelain, glass,
    silver, brass.
    Greens and blues,
    shimmering hues.
    Bins and strings
    of possibility.

    Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

    The only tears in a bead store are mine when I find there are more coveted beads than I have money! 😉

    1. Those last two lines! I love the universality of those, following all your specific kinds of beads. You know it’s what knitters see in yarn stores and artists see in paint stores, etc.

    2. Cute Diane. My neighbor is a beading enthusiast and I’ve heard your lament from her lips a number of times.

    1. Oh, lovely! And I always think that’s a haunting/lyrical image of the sea–the kelp forests and such. Brings to mind things both beautiful and horrifying for me.

    1. Oh, lovely! And I always think that’s a haunting/lyrical image of the sea–the kelp forests and such. Brings to mind things both beautiful and horrifying for me.

  9. Trying to find out why my post is showing “your comment is awaiting moderation” and I’m not receiving the notification of new posts. Ideas appreciated. I have turned pc off and re-booted.
    Gremlins in “sigh” berspace again?

    1. I’m not sure why your Comment went to moderation. I’m guessing you’ve been unsubscribed somehow? Try resubscribing by typing your email in the box in the right sidebar and then clicking Subscribe right below it. That widget had disappeared, so I wonder if there was a glitch in my subscriptions. It says 147 people are subscribed, so it definitely didn’t dump all my subscribers, but… Hope this works!

  10. Trying to find out why my post is showing “your comment is awaiting moderation” and I’m not receiving the notification of new posts. Ideas appreciated. I have turned pc off and re-booted.
    Gremlins in “sigh” berspace again?

    1. I’m not sure why your Comment went to moderation. I’m guessing you’ve been unsubscribed somehow? Try resubscribing by typing your email in the box in the right sidebar and then clicking Subscribe right below it. That widget had disappeared, so I wonder if there was a glitch in my subscriptions. It says 147 people are subscribed, so it definitely didn’t dump all my subscribers, but… Hope this works!

    1. Oh, my. My daughter just flew to Scotland last night, so there is a sea between us, and this poem really hits home–not in the romantic way probably intended, but in a core way nonetheless. I love the olde english sound of “if there be.”

    1. Oh, my. My daughter just flew to Scotland last night, so there is a sea between us, and this poem really hits home–not in the romantic way probably intended, but in a core way nonetheless. I love the olde english sound of “if there be.”

  11. Laura, your poem is strange and very cool! Probably inspired by Amelia, I came up with a rather sinister take on an old tale.

    Rapunzel

    Rapunzel braids
    gold into her long
    long hair
    and the greedy prince?s
    eyes shine.

    ?Kate Coombs

    1. Oh, I love all these magically-inspired poems. Yeah, my poem is strange. Not what I intended–realizing I missed the mark:>) Ah, well. Such is the life of a 15WOL poem-er! I love your greedy prince and his shining eyes (and the way the shine is from greed, not love, as usual with shining eyes).

  12. Laura, your poem is strange and very cool! Probably inspired by Amelia, I came up with a rather sinister take on an old tale.

    Rapunzel

    Rapunzel braids
    gold into her long
    long hair
    and the greedy prince?s
    eyes shine.

    ?Kate Coombs

    1. Oh, I love all these magically-inspired poems. Yeah, my poem is strange. Not what I intended–realizing I missed the mark:>) Ah, well. Such is the life of a 15WOL poem-er! I love your greedy prince and his shining eyes (and the way the shine is from greed, not love, as usual with shining eyes).

  13. Laura, those mermaid’s tears growing legs is rather scary, revenge? It’s quite an amazing chandelier!

    The “haves” hide behind
    the golden curtains,
    keeping the “have-nots”
    from entering the room.
    Linda Baie ? All Rights Reserved

    1. Oh dear. It does kind of sound like that, doesn’t it? Ha–I LOVE hearing how other people interpret these. I meant it to be metaphorical, that her grief is so great that she takes on human form to go to the world of the human she misses–no that the tears actually grow legs. Fail (on my part, not yours!).

      I love your detail that the curtain is golden. So much wealth and privilege implied by that one word.

    2. Your verse reminds me of the curtains between First Class and the “have nots” on a plane.

    3. Gold can’t out way the richness of the loved ones in our life one the are gone not even gold can bring them back but it a nice poem

  14. Laura, those mermaid’s tears growing legs is rather scary, revenge? It’s quite an amazing chandelier!

    The “haves” hide behind
    the golden curtains,
    keeping the “have-nots”
    from entering the room.
    Linda Baie ? All Rights Reserved

    1. Oh dear. It does kind of sound like that, doesn’t it? Ha–I LOVE hearing how other people interpret these. I meant it to be metaphorical, that her grief is so great that she takes on human form to go to the world of the human she misses–no that the tears actually grow legs. Fail (on my part, not yours!).

      I love your detail that the curtain is golden. So much wealth and privilege implied by that one word.

    2. Your verse reminds me of the curtains between First Class and the “have nots” on a plane.

    3. Gold can’t out way the richness of the loved ones in our life one the are gone not even gold can bring them back but it a nice poem

  15. Open Window

    Curtains of beads
    sway in breeze.
    Their swishing sound
    gives feeling of ease.

    1. I remember the bead curtains our older daughter had–a rainbow wall against the morning sun. Lovely!

  16. Open Window

    Curtains of beads
    sway in breeze.
    Their swishing sound
    gives feeling of ease.

    1. I remember the bead curtains our older daughter had–a rainbow wall against the morning sun. Lovely!

    1. Ooh, there’s something about them being eggs that makes this a little bit creepy. I love that!

    1. Ooh, there’s something about them being eggs that makes this a little bit creepy. I love that!

  17. Laura I liked your leaf thought

    A tree
    Even in wither
    Is to be remembered
    As she leaves her
    Frosty leaf prints
    Silver stars
    Etchings of
    time

    Poem By Jessica Bigi

  18. Laura I liked your leaf thought

    A tree
    Even in wither
    Is to be remembered
    As she leaves her
    Frosty leaf prints
    Silver stars
    Etchings of
    time

    Poem By Jessica Bigi

  19. Touching poem, Laura — love the imagery, esp. mermaid tears! I saw something other than beads:

    PRIDE

    Sneak in the den ?
    so brave, so daring ?
    while eyes of 1000 cats
    are staring.

    - ? Matt Forrest Esenwine

    1. I miss having cats — my husband and I are both allergic:>( — but I admit I don’t miss the spookiness of being startled by a pair of golden eyes in the dark when I thought I was alone!

  20. Touching poem, Laura — love the imagery, esp. mermaid tears! I saw something other than beads:

    PRIDE

    Sneak in the den ?
    so brave, so daring ?
    while eyes of 1000 cats
    are staring.

    - ? Matt Forrest Esenwine

    1. I miss having cats — my husband and I are both allergic:>( — but I admit I don’t miss the spookiness of being startled by a pair of golden eyes in the dark when I thought I was alone!

  21. Couldn’t make up my mind so here’s 2 versions.

    SUPPER TIME
    Kaleidoscopic sparkles
    Bathe us every night,
    We?re dining in a rainbow
    Of chandeliered light.

    CHANDELIER
    Kaleidoscopic sparkles
    Bathe us from the chandelier
    Turning our family
    Into human rainbows.

    © Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.

    1. I love the language of the first, but those human rainbows are wonderful in the second!

  22. Couldn’t make up my mind so here’s 2 versions.

    SUPPER TIME
    Kaleidoscopic sparkles
    Bathe us every night,
    We?re dining in a rainbow
    Of chandeliered light.

    CHANDELIER
    Kaleidoscopic sparkles
    Bathe us from the chandelier
    Turning our family
    Into human rainbows.

    © Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.

    1. I love the language of the first, but those human rainbows are wonderful in the second!

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