Thursday, September 03, 2009

Poetry Stretch Results - Picture Day

The challenge this week was to write a poem about having your picture taken. Here are the results.
Kate Coombs of Book Aunt left this poem in the comments.
    Faces

    Kerri has 500 photos
    of herself on Facebook:
    pouting sexy like a model,
    then cute and funny, sitcom girl,
    very Kerri, never scary.

    I let her take photos:
    they're supposed to be me.
    A smile I practiced
    for Picture Day,
    dragon dabs of mascara,
    a dropped shoulder
    (Kerri says to, but I feel like
    the hunchback of Notre Dame).

    She doesn't get it. "Not one?
    This one! This one is perfect!"
    No. I go home.
    I take out my paints,
    my brushes, my scissors and paper,
    a bottle of glue. A feather
    I found on the sidewalk,
    a button, a twig.

    I take out the day I was born,
    smoothing it with my hands,
    the time I cut my knee
    and it bled on my green dress
    like geraniums,
    a quarrel tasting
    like unsweetened chocolate,
    the ruffled pages of books,
    my mother's daisy of a sneeze,
    the times tables lined up
    as if they made sense,
    my sister's baseball bat swinging
    through the air like a song,
    and my secretest secrets,
    like the heart of a stone or a tree.
    I'm making
    a picture of me,
    and it's going to be

    nothing like anything
    in that book of faces.
    It's going to be so me
    that if wizards came,
    they'd take one look at it,
    and know my true name.
Diane Mayr of Random Noodling left this poem in the comments.
    INSANITY

    Having my picture
    taken over and over
    and each time
    expecting to see
    someone else.
Laura Purdie Salas left this poem in the comments.
    Author Mug Shot

    one hundred twenty five pixels square
    double chin, cowlick, frozen stare
    they told me this pose would make me look stunning
    now black pixel bars restrain me from running

    my crime: an unphotogenic cliche
    my punishment: infinite awkward display

    --Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Linda of Write Time left this poem in the comments.
    Picture Day

    Last year I stayed home
    sick on picture day—
    I wasn’t even faking,
    my stomach ached
    thinking about my face
    forever fat
    on the yearbook page.

    I had a plan
    nothing but salads
    I’d be skinny-jean ready
    by re-take day—
    It didn’t happen.

    So I promised myself
    a new me
    in the new year.

    But tomorrow
    is picture day
    again—
    and already
    my stomach
    aches.
Cindy Blair left this poem in the comments.
    Family Pictures

    Pictures of my foot and ear
    are probably those I hold most dear
    because the bloopers of my life
    are able to erase some strife.

    License pics are another story
    my hair's remiss of any glory.
    A sunburn or a windburn shows
    it's Mother Nature's joke;my woes.

    In the end pictures I treasure
    then display professional measure.
Here's the poem I started but haven't yet figured out how to finish.
I face the mirror
on the wall
practice smiling
stand real tall
tilt my head
rest hand on chin
try to mask
the fear within

The face that stares
at me each day—the one
I know by heart
is not the one
that is revealed
in photographic art
It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

3 comments:

  1. Not to take away from anyone else, but I loved the Book Aunt's Faces poem. So well done that part way through I started to read more slowly just to savor it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is fun! Thanks Tricia. Here is my best effort.

    Family Pictures

    Pictures of my foot and ear
    are probably those I hold most dear
    because the bloopers of my life
    are able to erase some strife.

    License pics are another story
    my hair's remiss of any glory.
    A sunburn or a windburn shows
    it's Mother Nature's joke;my woes.

    In the end pictures I treasure
    then display professional measure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These poems bring back so many picture memories...thank you! This one is about my daughter who loves to take pet photos.

    Listen

    I'm a cat photographer.
    I can photograph a purr.
    Just hold this picture to your ear.
    You'll think my cat is really here.

    ReplyDelete