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Monday, October 31, 2011

Monday Poetry Stretch - Three Words

I've been fiddling with the sestina as of late and having difficulty, so I thought a three word prompt might inspire me a bit. Since I'm still thinking fall, here are the three words I have been working with.
  • gate
  • leaf
  • moon
Your challenge this week is to use these three words in a poem. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results later this week.

11 comments:

  1. welcome
    by steven withrow


    unlatch
    the moon's
    orange
    gate

    walk in
    autumn
    as a
    leaf

    ReplyDelete
  2. Early Snow

    October should be
    the gate into winter,
    not winter itself.
    So why are the bright leaves
    dimmed with snow,
    under the careless eye
    of an autumn moon?

    ©Jane Yolen all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  3. WITNESS TO WINTER

    Only the moon remains neutral,
    simply a witness to all the seasonal
    goings-on. She does not blink
    when the last leaf falls opening
    the gate through which winter
    scrambles in. She remains silent
    since those on earth rely on her
    impartiality, but once behind the clouds
    she chuckles with delight. The silver
    glow betrays her, but not before she
    purses her lips to blow the clouds away.

    © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

    ReplyDelete
  4. November arrives


    red night leaf
    gallops through the gate
    sidesaddle moon on his back


    Heidi Mordhorst 2011
    all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  5. November 1

    A slashing storm this morning—
    the leaves are all scattered
    around the gate like fallen stars.
    Now the white leaves of snowflakes
    blow across the yard, and a stag
    fades away through the trees,
    his body a trunk and his antlers
    brown branches. Only the moon
    is left, her face pale with cold.

    --Kate Coombs 2011, all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Tricia--These are all gorgeous! Heidi, I especially love yours with that sidesaddle moon.

    Here's my haiku.


    November’s night regatta--
    Leaves billowing, floating on wind
    with white moonlight sails

    --Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

    Fun to be back for a poetry stretch--yay!

    BTW, my blog has moved to http://laurasalas.wordpress.com/ If you're inclined to keep that sidebar link, which is lovely, could you update the link when you have a chance--thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for sharing. How others personify the moon is interesting.



    I was staring through Windows
    gateways leading me to
    Kid Rock
    a Nissan Leaf
    and Amazon’s Cloud
    when it dawned on me there might be nothing
    which we cannot destroy from reality
    and transform into symbols.

    For over a decade now I have been
    insulated by an artificial light,
    the moon reduced to an icon on the Weather Channel,
    not the celestial object I used to lie under
    in the cool grass of a summer’s night
    and stare at in wonder.

    Where have you gone, George Bailey,
    standing outside the little white gate
    next to the leafy hydrangeas,
    promising Mary you would lasso the moon?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mr. Moon

    Mr. Moon
    in purple sky,
    see your moonlight
    riding high.

    slipping under
    clouds of snow,
    feel your magic
    in my toes.

    can you see
    my starry face,
    as you glide by
    leaf and gate?

    did you know
    I’m hiding, too,
    catching moonbeams
    just like you?

    @jg Krantz 2011, all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  9. OK, seriously. You know how you go to buy a bottle of Coke, and then there are 200 varieties, and your one requirement is that it be Caffeine-Free, but then you get so caught up in the varieties that you unpack your bag at home and discover that you bought Black Cherry, Diet, Low-Carbonated Coke with extra caffeine? Well, that's me. My first version of a poem did have all three words. But, ah...the one I posted above is missing gate. And the first one was too cliched. So (ducking my head in shame), never mind:>)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Laura--Play the haiku card! You started off with all three words, after all. Nice poem! (And I like your Coke analogy, too.)

    ReplyDelete
  11. BURNT SIENNA LEAF

    burnt sienna leaf
    scurries against frosted gate
    camps under full moon.

    (c) Charles Waters 2011 all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete