Tower [15 Words or Less Poems]

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. 

tower 15wol
Photo: Laura P. Salas

I took this picture at a drum corps rehearsal over the summer, and it makes me think of several things:

  1. Olympic torch
  2. a sparkler
  3. a ladder to the moon

This made me think of writing “Laura” or “Happy New Year” (never could finish that one) with sparklers in the air on New Year’s Eve. Standing in the driveway, in the dark, holding light in my hand and making my temporary little mark on the world.

Here’s my first draft.

steel sparklers 15wol

It’s funny how I complain about light pollution, because I want to see the stars and planets in the sky at night. But there is also a beauty to our electrical presence on earth, especially when you view it from an airplane or in an isolated dose. Somehow I usually want to find the beauty of something in a poem, even if it’s something I don’t generally feel kindly toward. A poem just wants to be a celebration.

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

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44 Responses

  1. I do not know where this came from this morning. Just a feeling I have sometimes that keeps my light one, I guess.

    I stood alone
    as darkness moved in
    then remembered
    I was the beacon
    And shone

    1. Donna, this is beautiful. Like a small prayer-story. Thank you for the reminder. We can all be beacons–and doesn’t the world need beacons right now.

  2. I had this written before I read Donna’s- we were just on the same wave-length this morning.

    BE THE ONE

    Lift your fire-
    higher!
    Higher!
    Be the one that will
    inspire.

    1. Love how you guys have the same theme but totally different moods. This one’s like a cheer–a command of the best kind!

    2. Cindy, the message needs repeating. Hoping to inspire can be difficult at times, but oh the rewards!

  3. We are on a roll. Here’s mine:

    Every child you meet
    has an inner sparkler
    waiting
    to be lit.

    1. Margaret, I love this. And lighting that inner sparkler seems so much easier with a child.

    2. Every teacher should read this, Margaret. Such a great reminder of the sacred importance of your job. Lovely!

  4. poem by Jessica Bigi

    beacons

    electric energy
    flowing through
    currents of love
    emulating lives
    a million waves
    smiles hallows
    unity

  5. Laura–I love skyscraper sparklers. You all have such a positive vibe! Sorry to be the downer this morning.

    Accusation

    Like a lit match,
    her pointed finger
    threatened
    to ignite me.

    1. Yes, anger can burn! Your poem makes me think of a finger pointed in accusation or taunting that can bring on the fight.

    2. Liz, the beauty in this format is the ability to see something that touches your inner self. And remember, that finger pointing at you has three pointing back at itself.

      1. Sorry Liz. My finger pointed at the enter key before I was ready. So anonymous I was.

    3. Never apologize! I often love dark or moody or violent poems, and variety/individualism is what we’re going for. What a great metaphor you’ve got going on here, Liz. Thanks for sharing!

  6. Good morning Laura. The texture in the sky beckoned me, Multitudes of people, or so it seems. I gave in to the “light” as opposed to a cheering crowd in a sports arena.

    An Answered Call

    Straight and tall
    I place my call;
    in back of my post
    a heavenly host.

    1. I can definitely see a shrouded, fish scaled window and vista of storms and light. Lovely.

    2. I love looking out windows during a storm, when they’re all smeary like an impressionist painting. Those fish scales! Wonderful.

  7. Wow. Today’s poems are filled with sparkle and sizzle. Sorry I am late with this, but Laura, your hello/goodbye poem from last week was exceptionally memorable.

    Here’s mine for today:

    down through dusty ages
    or across dark miles
    poetry shares a light
    soul to soul

    1. Thanks, Lauren–never too late for a compliment–hehehe! I love those “dusty ages,” Lauren. Such great specificity:>)

  8. Lauren, you may be late, but I am even later. I am down a little today with pain from yesterday’s dental surgery.
    I think that is clouding my mind.

    Things will be Better

    Beacon of light,
    shining so bright,
    symbol of hope
    in darkness of night.

    1. Oh, dear. Hope you feel better soon, Pat! At least you didn’t think of surgical lights:>)

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