Category Archives: Poetry

Image from page 248 of “Child religion in song and story” (1909) flickr photo by Internet Archive Book Images shared with no copyright restriction (Flickr Commons)

Random Access Poetry: Day Nineteen

You follow me close, from under,
a bass echoing in
flow

All these notes, we are becoming:
a harmony, singing,
low

yet with each measured breath
we can’t escape the
key

another voice, singing strong,
frames us forward:
Belief

Peace (singing it),
Kevin

PS — this random photo came from the Internet Archive Book Image project. A bot sent this particular image out in Mastodon, and it caught my eye.

Photo CC BY-NC-SA

Random Access Poetry: Day Eighteen

The day’s horizon
bends for
you — gray
curves cutting
across deep ocean
blues

Peace (along the shared horizon),
Kevin

PS — this image was found via Flickr Promptr, and you can leave a poem, too

October Morning Light flickr photo by Pavel P. (P. (this is old account that I no longer shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Random Access Poetry: Day Seventeen

When they talk of those
walking on water, of
the miracle of wonder

perhaps this is what they mean

From here, anything seems
possible, even the way
we might slip across the
surface tension

and dance with the trees

I wait, while you pull
on your boots, our socks
still wet from yesterday’s

excursion into photography

Peace (through a lens, brightly),
Kevin

PS — this image was discovered through the Flickr Stampr Creative Commons search engine — I used the word “periphery” to find an image because it came up in another poem the other day and I like the idea of edges.

Image from page 253 of “Meissonier, his life and his art” (1897) flickr photo by Internet Archive Book Images shared with no copyright restriction (Flickr Commons)

Random Access Poetry: Day Sixteen

If you saw what I saw
when I see what you see,

you’ll share this belief:

I can’t draw what you see
nor can you draw, for me

Peace (in different visions),
Kevin

PS — this image was discovered through the Internet Archive Book Image project. I follow a bot on Mastodon that shares random pics from the collection.

Photo CC BY

Random Access Poetry: Day Fifteen

Obscured light,
tinted green
by time’s
forward march –

Somewhere,
a sign waits,
a stationary signal
of some sort
left by someone

and the only question
is whether we follow
the path forward

or forge our own

Peace (in the path),
Kevin

PS — this was inspired by the daily Flickr Promptr site created by John Johnston — come write you own poem!

Image from page 87 of “Familiar trees” (1906) flickr photo by Internet Archive Book Images shared with no copyright restriction (Flickr Commons)

Random Access Poetry: Day Fourteen

Just try to draw
a line through
time and see how
it goes

Nothing linear
here, just a slow
burn towards
the soil

with evidence of
an unsteady hand
and little more
to guide you

except the faith we feel
that all around us,
this ragged world
always grows

Peace (in the trees),
Kevin

PS – I used a bot account on Mastodon — Public Domain Book Images —  which shares out images from the Internet Archive Book on Flickr.

Photo by: Miradortigre : under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license https://flic.kr/p/24vyVUh
Photo by Jocelyn777 : under a Creative Commons (BY) license https://flic.kr/p/K35xi6

Random Access Poetry: Day Thirteen

Everything here
seems so far away
from there

as if time and
tides have kept us
drifting

We dip our
way into the
watercolors

Our skin now
painted with layers
of flotsam

and jetsam, of
algae and rust,
of trust

Peace (in reflections),
Kevin

PS — this poem inspired by the random Flickr Blendr tool shared by John Johnston

Photo CC BY-NC-SA

Random Access Poetry: Day Twelve

You don’t remember me –
the way I was liquid in the crowd
hugging the shore with your family
and friends, nor how I pilfered
one of the ribbons off the ship
when no one was looking, sticking
it deep inside my jacket pocket
with clenched fingers, nor how, later,
I walked home a little lighter,
as if I were now part of something
rather than just another nothing

Peace (at turbulent seas),
Kevin

PS – this poem was inspired by John Johnston’s Flickr Promptr and you can write your own, too. Plus: there’s a new photo every day.

[Portrait of Conte Candoli, 1947 or 1948] (LOC) flickr photo by The Library of Congress shared with no copyright restriction (Flickr Commons)

Random Access Poetry: Day Eleven

There’s no forgetting
the night when the
force of the riff
shattered the world:

the window panes danced
in wonder, as whiskey
glasses shook and shivered,
moaning with pressure –

all to get us
on the floor,
to dance –

Your horn blared
the clarion call of
hook and melody
we still hear across the years

in worn-out shoes
and the mirror
of midnight blues

Peace (sounds like),
Kevin

PS — I did a search for “Jazz” in the Library of Congress archives collection for this unexpected image