Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s Photo Play and Prompt. Each photograph that was shared made us hungry for more.
Every contribution was a feast for the eyes, although we confess to wishing we’d been there in person to join in the feeding frenzy that surely followed.
We also enjoyed reading the freshly-baked verses from our poets. Here’s a poem from Donna that finds beauty in the negative spaces of puff pastry:
Each empty space
in my puff pastry heart
was forged…
an alchemy of fire.
Fossils from gifts
where sweetness
now pools.
And so,
I fill each hole
with
thanks.
PHOTO PLAY 2 POETRY PROMPT: Pick a photo you can really sink your teeth into and write a poem. Share it with us in the comment box below. Yum!
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Be sure to check out the highlights from Photo Prompt participants on the Photo Play Pinterest board! And keep clicking and/or playing with words.
Photos by S. Etole, SimplyDarlene, and Monica Sharman. Post by Heather Eure.
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Sometimes we feature your poems in Every Day Poems, with your permission of course. Thanks for writing with us!
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Elizabeth W. Marshall says
Donna, I love this from you. Utterly delectable. Perfect blend of savory and sweet. It’s freshness wins my heart.
Donna says
Thank you Elizabeth. 🙂
Simply Darlene says
thank ye for including my pic between pie and cake, what a sweet place to be 🙂
my poetical offering based on bread image (revised from my site)
i found her
chewing
through walnuts,
cranberries,
butter
heavy
toast. red
lip-
stick colored her
coffee mug,
a cigarette
smoldered smoke
heavy.
crumbs,
ashes
clung to her
table
linens.
Donna says
Darlene, it’s a delicious photo, and the poem … so sensory-rich, and loving.
Sandra Wirfel says
This could have been my mom when I was little and she smoked in the house, everything except the lipstick on the coffee mug, she never wore lipstick. Very nice.
Bethany Rohde says
I love the repeated theme of: “heavy.” I enjoyed the unique richness throughout your piece.
Simply Darlene says
Thanks, Donna & Sandra & Bethany… a reflection of my grandma.
Monica Sharman says
Thanks for the feature and the yummy prompt! Donna, your first two lines are my favorites.
Donna says
Oh Monica, you really had my mouth watering last week. Love this image. Thank you for your comment. 🙂
Heather Eure says
Great picture, Monica. Bet that cake was amazing. I adore mango. Could probably eat one every day if someone else cut it up for me. I make a mess and it’s downright embarrassing the way I chew on the pit. 🙂
Monica Sharman says
Like a dog chews on a bone. If we didn’t eat a mango that way, it would be a terrible waste. 🙂
Robbie Pruitt says
Sustenance
Soft bread
Porous as the earth
Beneath a hardened crust
Fired under the crucible of heat
A golden brown, like rust
Broken as it is, broken as it must
And offered up for us to eat
© January 20, 2015, Robbie Pruitt
Heather Eure says
I like this very much, Robbie. Thank you for sharing it!
Robbie Pruitt says
Thank you very much Heather. Appreciate you reading and commenting.
Bethany Rohde says
“Porous as the earth” is a gorgeous simile. Thank you for sharing your piece.
Richard Maxson says
Robbie, I enjoyed this, particulary “Fired under the crucible of heat”
Richard Maxson says
Best Cherry Pie
I climbed the cherry tree in my Grandmother’s backyard,
the bark was black, the trunk
split from trunk by lightning long before me,
the brief fire healed now.
I would fill the bucket with what I did not
consume, red the color of blood shining
in the sun, the stems like drowning hands
reaching from a sea of arching waves.
Between the spaces of her beer and cigarettes,
naps on the couch—her bulk threatening her Chihuahua,
her lashing out at my Papaw, motionless,
leaning against a wall, she performed
the sweet and tart miracle of cherry pie.
Some memories rise above life and death,
they cut like razors through long recited grievances.
I can recall with effort her leathery skin and tongue,
sharp and foul, but I see her heart flowing with the pectin-rich
syrup that let spill from a crust something made new,
life giving, with a sharp sweetness
that moved through me as I imagined lightning would.
Bethany Rohde says
Wow. Powerful piece, Richard. I love the images from the black tree bark to the “stems like drowning hands.” What a great job you’ve done in describing a complicated family member of the speaker. Ending with lightning seems fitting.
Simply Darlene says
My favorite of yours so far, Richard… place and time and flow and how you’ve stitched the beginning and end together.
Richard Maxson says
Thank you Bethany and Darlene for commenting. I appreciate your encouragement.
Donna says
Richard, your words – so powerful. How you’ve reconciled the bitter and the sweet … it’s so moving. And so, as I to tell you that I wrote this:
this is the new math
the math of cherry pie
where all of the bitter
plus
all of the sweet
equals
love resting
between flaky crusts
Richard Maxson says
Thank you, Donna, for your kind words. The new math would serve the world well.
Olga Salimova says
Hey, Big Daddy, I miss you.
I miss you most of all
When I wake up one wet morning
So early that the dark iron sky
Conceives just a tear of daylight
In the corner of its eye.
Hey, Big Daddy, I miss you.
I miss a piece of white bread,
Warm like a newborn,
Thin-skin butter and a cup of coffee
In an outstretched arm.
Especially today, when a mucker wind
Mats soggy leaves and mixes sore dirt,
And my cup is torn into pieces,
And my bread is a heap of crumbs;
I miss you, my wonderful central;
I miss you being part of my life.
Bethany Rohde says
Thanks for sharing your poem with us. I especially loved the line: “Mats soggy leaves and mixes sore dirt”
Richard Maxson says
Welcome, Olga. I like the language in this entire section;it’s very original:
Especially today, when a mucker wind
Mats soggy leaves and mixes sore dirt,
And my cup is torn into pieces,
And my bread is a heap of crumbs;
Donna says
So much emotion in this.
So rich and powerful – the imagery is so strong I can’t even pick a favorite part, although I was particularly struck by thin-skin butter and a cup of coffee…
So glad you shared, and so nice to meet you here, Olga.
Elizabeth Marshall says
Welcome Olga. Thank you for trusting us with your words. So fresh and original. Lovely
Simply Darlene says
(regarding pecan pie)
homemade crust
encircles golden
time laden, thick
filling. sugar simmered, spice
stirred. recipe instructions stuck
to cupboard door: caramelize
nuts – untouchable things of
dreams and movies and magazines
because wistful, wishful thinking a pie
does not make
cut the corners
of paper pouches, dry
chocolate pudding poofs! across
forearms as hand-mixer spins
’round ’round ’round
milk jug splattered brown. slop
full the thin tin pan’s graham cracker
store bought crust
no doubt we’ll eat our instant pie
with a spoon
Richard Maxson says
I love this, Darlene! My favorite part is the sound of this read aloud:
cut the corners
of paper pouches, dry
chocolate pudding poofs! across
forearms as hand-mixer spins
’round ’round ’round
milk jug splattered brown. slop
full the thin tin pan’s graham cracker
store bought crust
SimplyDarlene says
thank ye kindly – it’s my fav part, too 😉
Elizabeth Marshall says
Love every syllable of this.I would LOVE to hear you read it. ♡
S. Etole says
Thank you for including the pecan pie photo and Darlene’s creative take.
Elizabeth Marshall says
Breaking Bread
Words swirled
Round
Cut
By truth
While I slice
Butter
You cut calories
Measured
Disciplined
All business
Cut the fat
Portion paragraphs
With precision every time
Perfection rules your hand
Perfect poetry every time
You always liked
The end
I
The middle
Ground
Cinammon our shared
Spice
One ingredient
Common
come communion with me
the end
is near
Elizabeth Marshall says
* commune * rather ^^^
Sandra Wirfel says
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/dining/toasted-to-perfection-gradually.html?_r=0
The perfect toast. I recently read an article in the New York Times, it made me happy and made me want to share it with all of you. I don’t have the poem done yet “Buttered Toast.”