A Good Egg

Photo Credit: Barbara Young

Sometimes a good egg,

Scrambled by life’s twists and turns,

Finds herself broken.

~~ Written for an ekphrastic prompt over at Poetic Bloomings.   Many thanks to Barbara Young for providing the photo for the prompt!

A Broken Dreamcatcher

Doll by Emma Whitlock

Her dreamcatcher failed
And a nightmare slipped through,
One that ensnared her heart and soul,
Leaving her chasing the impossible
Until flesh was cleaved from bone,
The skeletal remains of her broken heart
Dangling in the breeze.

~~~ This poem was written for a photo prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.

Soundtrack

© Kenia Cris

the soundtrack of my life
has switched keys,
transforming into
series of preludes
played through
old tinny speakers,
gentle waves of sound
that give no clue
to the insidious motives
of the band,
yet still I dance on...


~~~~ This poem was written for the Weekend Challenge at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, giving us a choice of a form prompt or a photo prompt.  I chose a photograph by Kenia Cris, whose work can be found at her blog Poesia Torta.

Remembrances

© Margaret Bednar

Remembrances of gentle smiles
Give little reprieve to my pain,
Relentless tears that fall in vain,
No pardon from these grief-filled trials.

Sufficient reasons can't be found
To justify an early death,
A mournful heart that has no breath,
Filled with regrets, in sorrow drowned.

I’m drifting, lost, and so alone.
Stuck on a path of many ways
But none that lead to brighter days,
My anguish marked by chiseled stone.


~~~ This poem was written for a prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads asking us to try out the In Memoriam Stanza, a variation on the envelope stanza.  The photograph was part of this prompt as well.  You can find Margaret Bednar's photos and poetry over at her blog Art Happens 365.

Chasing the Lighthouse

© Jaime Clark

I’m caught in a cerebral fog, 

An aimless drifter on stormy seas

With no map to guide my way, 

Trying to find meaning 

In this mental void, 

Wishing for 

An inspirational lighthouse

To set my thoughts 

Back on course.

I feel the void 

Echoing its lonely song 

Through my world, 

An aching that mirrors my every move.  

I’m lost in transience, 

A floating wisp of ether 

That never materializes 

Into something substantial.

~~~~ This was written for a photo prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.  This also was written for the OctPoWriMo Day 4 prompt of “Inspiration and/or Rules.”  (Yeah, playing a little catch up on the prompts!)

A Sunday Drive

© Margaret Bednar

Every Sunday finds her
Driving along County Road 6,
A dozen roses in the passenger seat,
Making her way to a simple stone marker
Under the swaying pines.

Some days she talks of the kids,
Her job, his mother,
Other times she sits in silence,
But each visit ends the same way,
With burgundy lips on his granite inscription
And a whispered, “I’ll always love you.”


~~~  This poem was written for a prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, giving us the option of either writing a form poem (sevenling) or using a photo from the prompt for our inspiration.  The picture I chose was from Margaret Bednar, you can find her poetry and photography at her blog Art Happens 365.

The Map of Memory

Photograph © Margaret Bednar

I ricochet 

Across invisible maps,

Flooded by recollections

Of the curvaceous,

The dangerous,

The warped.

The laces of memory

Spin past me,

Yarns of every color

That call my name

From the bins of the past,

Ensnaring me

In melancholy threads,

Luring me into alcoves

That shimmer

With the uneasy remnants

Of yesterday.

~~~ This was written for a photo prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads featuring the photography of Margaret Bednar.  You can find more of Margaret’s amazing work at her blog Art Happens 365.

Wishing for Wings

Soul's Wing by Ella Wilson

As a child I wished for wings,
Dreaming I could fly away
From my despairing landscape,
Taking formation with a migrating flock,
Performing effortless cartwheels through the heavens.
Summer winds carried no angry words
To wound an innocent heart,
And the smiling stars in the night sky
Were the friendliest faces I’d ever seen.
My flights of fantasy
Carried me through my childhood,
Although those temporary escapes
Faded with the passing years.
These days my grown up feet
Are firmly rooted on the ground,
But even still there are times
When I can’t help but wish
I did have magical wings,
That I could just fly away once more.


~~~ This poem was written in response to a photo prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.  You can find more of Ella's work over at her blog Ella's Edge.