Fountain [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. 

Photo: Laura P. Salas

This is another pic from our Cyprus trip. Here’s a fountain by the ocean in Larnaca, in the touristy part of town.

This image makes me think of several things:

  1. a magic act (kind of looks like the sculpture is levitating)
  2. vertebrate creatures evolving in the ocesn
  3. roasting marshmallows
  4. portaging a canoe

And here’s my first draft.  As I’m sitting here surrounded by boxes and crates and bubble-wrapped stuff, still moving in to our new place, writing this poem this morning at first seemed a chore. And then, a gift. It was lovely to think of campfires and cookouts along the North Shore of Minnesota. Maybe next summer :>)

It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)

 

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39 Responses

  1. One thing I love about your filtered images, Laura, is that our imaginations can go further since the picture looks a little less real. You’ve made me want a toasted marshmallow with your “flames.” Here’s a silly hay(na)ku:

    answering sky pull
    water flows
    up

    1. Yes! That’s exactly why I do the filters! Thanks:>) Some days, the world feels gone crazy enough that maybe water will indeed flow upward…

    2. Lauren, I was intrigued by possibly turning the water upside down. You put it into words. Great!

  2. Oh, I love those “sweet, sticky stars” and I’m so glad that writing this today, in the midst of unpacking chaos, offered you a sweet reward. The fountain looked like flames to me as well. Here’s my take:

    Inspiration

    Fledgling dreams
    flutter
    in smoldering ashes
    From flames
    Phoenix
    rises
    soars

    ©M. Hogan, 2018

    1. Love how your title brings it all together. Should be a poster for writers and other dreamers!

    2. Don’t know where my comment went — burned in the flames ???? I guess!
      Try again -
      I love how your title wraps it all up. It should be a poster for writers!

    3. Molly, I love that you connect dreams to fledgling birds, since we always talk about dreams taking flight! Lovely!

  3. Wonderful image to keep you through this coming winter, Laura. Love those “sweet, sticky stars”!

    Geese Leaving Town

    Forging south for winter
    No turning back
    No doubts
    Winter licking at their heels

    1. I am going to hang on to cool thoughts of winter on this hot day. Love the confidence of your middle two lines.

    2. Ooh, I love “Winter licking at their heels.” And the confidence of those geese! Lovely.

    3. It’s approaching time for the geese to head south. The Floridians who grace us with their presence in the mountains over the summer will begin to head south before long.

  4. commenting again.…third time’s the charm? Marshmallows are the perfect legend of summer. Aren’t they?

    Spaces

    Between rushing waters
    sky scraping towers
    communications
    on little screens
    we’ll meetin spaces
    between

    1. I like your spaces between, a calming ending following the “rushing” and “sky scraping” opening.

  5. HO– USEKEEPING TIP

    A dragon who sleeps
    on his back always keeps
    his ceilings bare.
    No cobwebs there!

  6. Best to you Laura; in the end I have a feeling you will win the battle of the boxes. I always find lots of “surprises” when unpacking, even though I do the packing. Your photo prompts the extremes in weather conditions across the US.

    Nature’s Balance

    White,
    oxygenated flames
    stretch,
    determined to
    engulf
    that which
    rain
    struggles to
    protect.

    1. You’ve made me think of the fires in California. If only we could send rain where needed.

  7. Posting for Margaret, because my site and her computer were not cooperating this morning!

    “Legend of summer”… perfect ending.

    Fountain flames
    my heart’s on fire
    spine structure
    hovers protection
    balanced design

    –Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

  8. I love how your fountain has transformed into a magical campfire! Good luck with the unpacking and settling in.

    August Night

    wood crackles
    sparks leap
    embers glow
    darkness creeps
    stars flash
    flicker streak

  9. Hi again Laura. I’m thinking my computer may not be making nice with yours. My comment posted even though I never received the confirm prompt. None of my comments to the other participants are posting. It’s strange that Margaret and I had similar thoughts and you ended up posting hers because of pc problems.. Life in “sigh“berspace. Thanks for listening.

    1. Hi Martha–Every week, I have to approve all of your comments. I don’t know why, but WordPress doesn’t trust you (even though I do!). So if I happen to be online and checking comments, I approve them right away. Other times, it might be a few hours before I see them and approve them.

  10. Thank you Laura. So sorry. I’ll try to do some research from my end that might provide a clue. I really appreciate your loyalty that makes my participation possible.

    1. Don’t worry about it, Martha! I just wanted to let you know that our computer systems not playing nicely together is nothing new, and if your stuff doesn’t show up, it’s just because I haven’t approved it yet. That’s all–love having your participation!

  11. poem By Jessica Bigi

    The Greatest Expedition

    Fountains steam rising
    Off ground-rockets
    Journeying to seek
    Earth’s center

  12. Laura I remember moving and that feeling that the boxes would never end. Your picture today is very cool. I totally saw a giant vertebrae on top of the fountain…maybe it’s the nurse in me.

    Cetacean’s Story

    Bones plunge,
    Bones labor,
    Bones perish,
    These old bones remember…

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