In his poem “The Smiths as I understand them” Bob Hicok writes about special need kids
and in one passage he says “the boy whose eyes were lighthouses”
When I read this, it really hit me cause I so could see it.

He could’ve weakened the image by saying “the boy who had eyes like lighthouses” but he makes a strong statement here of how he sees him and gives not just a suggestion.

So today’s prompt is about using images and metaphors boldly so that they paint a strong picture. Don’t use them in an indirect suggestive  way but make us see 1:1 what you have in mind.

In my poem I needed an image for perspective and I tried different things, asking myself
How does perspective looks for me?
How did it feel in that certain moment?
Is there an image that could describe it in a visible way?
Is there an image that is not a clichée already?

What I came up with is:
perspective is an owl with tiny wrinkles round her eyes and spanish accent

That is what it is to me – how it felt – for you it might be different but in the best case you can feel and see that image as well

Another part in Hicok’s poem is that the mother braided the daughter’s hair into an actual swan – this too is a strong image
It’s not just braided in a way that it looks LIKE a swan but it IS a swan

For me this makes a big difference

So that is today’s challenge – have fun on finding strong images and metaphors and don’t use the words like or as that probably could weaken them

–Claudia