Image Haiku: Swallows of the Swamp

This week, I am going back into my photo files, and using images as an inspiration for haiku. I am layering words on images.

Image Haiku

Process Note: I was at my son’s baseball game and noticed this swampy area. A bridge over a bend in the pond caught my attention, and this swamp was filled with diving birds. Swallows, I was told, and watching them dance was very entertaining.

Peace (in the swamp),
Kevin

Image Haiku: Dying Tree

This week, I am going back into my photo files, and using images as an inspiration for haiku. I am layering words on images.

Image Haiku: Dying Tree

Process Note: Two pine trees in our side yard are succumbing to a fungus in the Northeast. All around, you see shadowy pines, with grey needles instead of vibrant green growth. An arborist told us the trees will slowly die, as they have been, over time. We still rely on their shade in summer, and they are still alive enough for us to not remove them.

Peace (in wonder),
Kevin

Image Haiku: The Path Up

This week, I am going back into my photo files, and using images as an inspiration for haiku. I am layering words on images.

Image Haiku: The Path Up

Process Note: I shared this image a few weeks ago as part of the CLMOOC Silent Sundays. It’s from the woods near my house, where lots of people use natural objects to make public sculptures. I took this photo by getting close to the ground, giving a bit of a perspective shift. The poem reflects this idea of a metaphorical ladder, leading into something.

Peace (ever upwards),
Kevin

Blackout Poems: Name Recognition

(I am using the New York Times interactive Blackout Poetry site for a few days to create Blackout poems. They give you some articles to choose from. You create poems of no more than 15 words. The interactive does the blacking out around your chosen words. It’s pretty cool. You can also read other poems built around the same articles. Give it a try.)

Blackout Poetry1

Process Note: This poem is created from an article about model Kate Upton and her attempt to move into acting. It’s also about what beauty is in the age of viral images. In this poem, I tried to keep my attention on the recognition of name in pop culture, and the transient nature of likes and thumbs-ups and more. That “no more than a cameo” is a good line. I also liked the floating off the page concept.

Peace (in what’s unsaid),
Kevin

Slice of Life: Poetry and Image Collecting

I’ve been using primary source images from the Library of Congress to write poetry for the past few days and it’s been pretty interesting to get inspired by history. I gathered them all up here in a Storify as a way to curate the poems and images and reflection points.

Peace (in poems),
Kevin

Library of Congress Poetry: Radio Signals

(I’m exploring poetry through images by tapping into the extensive collection of the Library of Congress on Flickr. There are some amazing images shared with the public and more coming every month or two, it seems. What can inspire you? Be sure to cite where you got the image from. Use Alan Levine’s Flickr Attribution tool and your life is a breeze.)


flickr photo shared by The Library of Congress with no copyright restriction (Flickr Commons)

Imagine the noise
if you stood
inside this antenna
and opened your ears
to the world.

Close your eyes
and listen, if you can,
and be patient, as your mind
puts frequencies into
patterns.

Somewhere, out there,
in some far-off place,
someone else is listening, too,
and all you need to do is

tune in.

Process Note: What I noticed first with this image is the wide open space behind the man and his radio device. Also, the large box antenna pulls in radio signals. I tried to move the poem beyond the man and his radio apparatus … to more of the idea of all of us, slowing down and listening to the world.

Peace (in all frequencies),
Kevin