I have a poem published today in the gorgeous journal Open: A Journal of Arts and Letters. Yesterday, they posted “Imagine This Portrait.” Tomorrow, they will publish a 3rd poem. But today is one of my favorite and weirdest poems of all.
Waterland
This is the photo that inspired the poem.
Lovely way to build on this photo.
Thank you so much, Anneli. I am noticing how it takes one object to kick me in the head and then strange things come out after that ;). Same thing with “Fishing” that was inspired by the print I own (that was Monday’s post).
A picture says a thousand words, so you just take those 1000 words and pare them down to the important ones and make a great poem from them.
Wow, I love that poem, and need to read it a few more times! Serendipitously, I just taught a class about the symbolism of stars in poetry, and now I am noticing so many poems where they play a role. And they always play a slightly different role. So interesting!
Thank you so much, Natalie. Now that you mention it I’ve written at least two other poems about stars that I can think of right away. One is a super nova poem, and the other is about the creation of a star. Stars fascinate me. And so so interesting to hear that they play different roles. What a cool class to teach!!!! Were you able to choose the topic?
Yes, we found them to be quite ambiguous figures depending on the poem. They can be connected with emotions of fatalistic thinking, a feeling of agency, hope, existential angst, awe/something for people to bond over, etc… It was just a one-day lesson of my choosing as part of an interview for an English teacher position. Fingers crossed!
Oh, best of luck and break a leg and lots of good thoughts and vibes for the position!!!!
What an amazing array of “star connections”!
This is a pretty amazing poem Luanne – I love how your stream of consciousness has moved past the mother and baby into the hidden world beyond and then on into infinity – kind of like a baby’s beginning really. It’s such a gift to be able to catch these inspired and thoughtful moments and write them down <3
I loved writing this poem, Pauline! Do you feel that way with some of your pieces over others–that you just love working on one or the other more than other ones?
I love to hear this Luanne – it shows I think.
For me it’s rare – simply because I don’t work at my art regularly enough. But sometimes things flow from somewhere else – those times are deeply satisfying – I have just one painting that makes me really happy still, five years later 🙂
Such a wonderful poem, Luanne. Congratulations! I love the photo of you and your mother…you look like her. <3
Thank you so much, Jill! Hah, I guess I do look a little bit like her ;).
Very cool poem. Star babies on the water. Nice how the photo prompted such creativity.
“Star babies on the water.” I love that!!!! Haha, that’s what it is. Photos are really good inspirations for poems, I think, as well as artwork and nature. All very tangible items that lead one off in a million directions.
Wonderful and weird and I love it! The photo is so cute!
Clare, thank you so much! I love that you love it and think it’s weird :)! Wasn’t I a big chunk of a baby, though? Hah. My poor mother.
I really like this one, Luanne. There’s so much going on in the imagery. You know I love nature, so I love all the mentions. Frogs, snakes, stars, and Jesus—you know that’s a formula for a good poem! 🙂 Great photo, too!
Congratulations. Beautiful poem – sensitive, with splendid imagery
Not so weird, just wildly beautiful!
I thought I had commented, but I guess it was on FB. I don’t think this is so weird, but well, my mind is full of weird stuff (and stars). Hahaha. I agree with Marie, wildly beautiful. I enjoyed the comments about stars above. They are endlessly fascinating. . .