Going Peacock on You with the Poetry Princesses [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)

Poem 2:
Ekphrastic Poem with the Poetry Princesses

This is Part 2 of my Poetry Friday post this week. If you didn’t see yesterday’s Part 1, I invite you to go check out a poem I submitted for One Minute Till Bedtime that did NOT make the cut:>)

Now, on to today’s poem.

This month, to close out our wonderful year of writing poetry together, we did one last ekphrastic poem to Andi’s choice of photo.

Actually, Andi gave us a whole bunch of choices, from Glencairn Cloister in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. It looks so peaceful and lovely. As usual, though, I was cutting it right down to the wire. But I love architectural sculpture. The idea that we take stone of various kinds and turn it into living things we love… Here’s the image I chose and my poem.

Glencairn Cloister
Detail from Glencairn Cloister. Photo: Andi Sibley

Feather Bones

We carve rock
so it talks about
swans and peacocks

There’s something about
stone–
bone of our planet
but soft as feathers
graceful as a breath–
when the right hands
love it

–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

Now go see what my Poetry Sisters have come up with!

Andi
Kelly
Liz

Sara 
Tanita 
Tricia 

And here are the previous Poetry Sisters collaborations:

Nov 2016 Terza rima (“When Hope Is Not Easy”)
Oct 2016 Ekphrastic poems (“Flip a Coin”)
Sep 2016 Clogyrnach poems (“Monarch”)
Aug 2016 Ekphrastic poems
Jul 2016 Poems inspired by a Kay Ryan poem (“House for Sale”)
Jun 2016 Harpy poems
May 2016 Tritina
Apr 2016 “Channel-Hopping Through Grasshopper Reality TV”
Mar 2016 Sedoka
Feb 2016 Poem Inspired by a Picasso Sculpture (ugh)
Jan 2016 Crown sonnet (on the periodic table)
Nov 2015 Ekphrastic poems
Oct 2015 Etherees
Sep 2015 Found poems
Aug 2015 Classified haiku
Jul 2015 Inspired by e.e. cummings’ poems
Jun 2015 Odes
May 2015 Pantoums
Apr 2015 Raccontinos
Mar 2015 Sestinas (Lord have mercy)
Feb 2015 Villanelles on hidden things
Jan 2015 Triolets on beginnings (And I posted an extra one here.)
Pre-2015 Villanelles, a crown sonnet, rondeau redoubles, and pantoums

For more poetry fun, go visit the Poetry Friday Roundup with Bridget at Wee Words for Wee Ones. She has such a warm and personal post about the Poetry Friday community–don’t miss it.

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33 Responses

    1. Thanks, Jane. Sculpting just astonishes me. I don’t even see how it’s physically possible, really…

    1. Thanks, Penny. Yeah, well, over the years… (and notice I didn’t specify the quality of the poems:>)

  1. There is indeed something about stone, and your poem nails it. Love the title, too. Have you ever considered doing a book about sculptures and calling it Feather Bones??

  2. I LOVE ekphrastic poetry! Thanks for the great link to posts from the Poetry Sisters!

    1. Glad you enjoyed this, Becky! I really like ekphrastic poetry, but I’ve been surprised as we’ve done it several times over this past year that I like it MUCH better when I pick art I’m drawn to. I’ve really struggled with some of the images…

  3. It just makes you wonder, if you loved enough, what else you could bring from various things… I do like this a lot. Happy poeting, and thank you for another year.

    1. Yeah, it does put a lot more of the responsibility back on us, doesn’t it? Hmmm…and thank YOU!

  4. “bone of our planet
    but soft as feathers
    graceful as a breath” — lovely, Laura! I’m enjoying the various photos and the ekphrastics that have resulted from you and your poetry sisters. =)

  5. I agree with Bridget, those are such poignant, beautiful lines. To go from stone to breath, through bones and feathers — really amazing. You’ve matched the sculpture with your words! Thanks, also, for linking to all the other poems we’ve done this year. Wow, what a great year it’s been in poetry!

  6. I love the way “you” wrote about the stone talking about peacocks, Laura. That is a clever thought, and interesting to imagine with so many sculptures. It’s beautiful!

  7. Love the contrasts you’ve drawn about stone: bone of our planet
    but soft as feathers. And imagine the patience it takes to make rocks talk about swans and peacocks!

  8. I loved following the trail of your rhymes through the ends and middles of lines. And I second the book idea!

    1. Thanks, Mary Lee. I’ve been wanting to play more with internal and imperfect rhymes lately:>)

  9. I’m so glad you chose to write about these birds. I too am in awe of sculpture and carvings, amazed at what can be wrought in rock. And I love this line:
    “graceful as a breath–
    when the right hands
    love it”

    Lovely poem, Laura!

  10. This is such an awesome activity — love the collaborative idea behind it.

    These are my favourite lines:
    graceful as a breath–
    when the right hands
    love it
    🙂

    1. Thanks, Myra. Writing with my poetry sisters is a great bond. I think we’re doing it again this year:>)

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