Thursday, May 16, 2024

Celebrating Picture Perfect Poetry

 Greetings everyone! It is Poetry Friday and I have some poems to share.





Today I'm sharing my delight with Carol Labuzzetta's anthology: Picture Perfect Poetry.  I have three poems in this beautiful book, and I'm proud to share two of them today.  Carol's anthology is such a beauty! It is an anthology of Ekphrastic Nature Poetry for Students. (Ekphrastic refers to writing that describes a visual art, in this case nature photography.) So, this is a thanks to Carol for including my poems, and a sharing of both poems and photographs.



Autumn's Hold

Pumpkins squat and bright and round
Gathered now in autumn's hold
Your droll expressions so renowned
Pumpkins squat and bright and round.
What lessons in this fall playground?
Leave a seed! Shine your light! Be BOLD!
Pumpkins squat and bright and round
Gathered now in autumn's hold.

© Karen Eastlund


A note about this one:  I just now had the idea to BOLD the bold!  Also, this is a form called triolet: the first line is repeated three times.  I love that Carol made the entire page orange for this one.



The next poem was inspired not only by the sunset, but by a prompt from an online workshop I took with Georgia Heard. She suggested we write a poem beginning with "Things to do if you are a ..."


Things to Do if You are a Sunset

Blush
Sneak in
Put on neon
Delight in feathered flight
Hopscotch from cloud to cloud
Inspect your reflection on water
Flash on last surprise
Dazzle
Fade

© Karen Eastlund



Thanks ever so much for reading and thanks to Patricia Franz for hosting today. Be sure to check in on her blog to read a wonderful poem about planting sugar pines in a national forest. Also, she has a great quote about being part of something larger. Poetry Friday is that kind of gathering, and you can be part of it also.  Find Patricia and learn more HERE.  

10 comments:

  1. I've been making my way through PICTURE PERFECT POETRY, too, Karen. I love your "Things To Do If You Are A Sunset" -- I can see the sun checking that mirror one last time - and blushing!

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  2. Karen, isn't this anthology a beauty. Thanks for sharing yours here. I enjoyed reading the process and your notes about each poem. I love the title "Things to Do If You are a Sunset" such a fun list. I'm making a note to try a triolet soon, too.

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  3. The lessons in your pumpkin poem are good ones!

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  4. Love your description/words and picture used to celebrate your pumpkins. The triolet form added so much. And the shape of your sunset poem reflects a sunset in a clever way. It's a great book!

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  5. You’ve gotten me wanting to try a triolet too. I love the sassy personality that you created for your sunset and the little story arc that you created with so few words!

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  6. I've read them before and loved them as I read each page, Karen. Both reflect the pictures beautifully. I love the triolet, the wonderful rhythm you achieved with "Autumn's hold"! I take so many sunset pics, too, how wonderful that you wrote from one's POV. Congratulations for your poems in the anthology!

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  7. I love "put on neon." Excited to be published alongside you in this anthology!

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  8. Lovely poems, Karen! I love the strong verbs in your sunset poem and especially the line "hopscotch from cloud to cloud"

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  9. Well done on the triolet, Karen, and I adore Things To Do If...poems. I extra love "hopscotch from cloud to cloud."

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  10. Oooh, so fun, Karen, and congrats!

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