We often are told to look at the big picture and to stop worrying about the minutia. Poets, though, I have found, can be sure to take things to another level. This is a double challenge!
Micro Poetry – like the kind we share on Twitter. Or in texts if you are old school. 140 characters is the limit. When you go over your characters in Twitter it shows them highlighted and in the negatives – eesh!
But what could inspire micro poetry? Hmmmmm…how about….
Macro photography! I love taking big shots, the prairie skies are famous for their size, their sheer size of unobstructed open blue. The range of clouds to be seen from horizon to horizon can be terrifying for those who come from places where the human hand creates horizons and frames them in with buildings. My love is truly macro photography. Searching the grasses and flowers for the perfect bee to photograph. Attempting a capture in flight. Seeing the veins on the wings of a dragonfly. Or how the antennae seem fuzzy or dotted on a butterfly.
I invite you to my albums with some of my macro photography. If you have your own, or permission to use someone’s, please feel free to do so.
Here are the album links:
Here are a few that I have not shared anywhere else, so they are very fresh for your eyes!
I invite you to think in the frame of micro poetry and to be inspired by macro photography. If we are friends on Facebook and you’ve seen a photo posted that you like, or any from my Photos by Shanyn page, feel free to use them. Be inspired!
Spring is on the way for us, and today was our first day of actual melting since the first snows fell last year. Soon the air will be alive with bursting buds, buzzing bees and all sorts of amazing animals returning to their summer homes, or passing through as they migrate north again.
If you use a photo that is not mine, or yours, please ensure you give both proper credit and have permission.
So, here is today’s challenge: write a poem in 140 characters (spaces not included, actual characters) and include a macro photo that inspired it.
If you are new, here is how it works:
- Write a poem based on the prompt and post it to your website or blog
- Click Mr. Linky below and enter your name and direct url
- There you will also find others that have written to the prompt, visit them
- Promote yourself on social media: if you use #dversepoets or @dversepoets it will be easier for us to find you and help you promote.
- Have fun!
claudia said:
micro poetry to macro shots… that’s a cool idea shanyn – and it forces you to focus on the details… put as much weight as possible into each word… stretched me a bit…smiles.. happy tuesday
shanyns said:
Stretching can be a good thing – glad you are enjoying the challenge of it Claudia!
brian miller said:
woot…fun stuff shanyn…some cool pics..i rather like the ones in the first album as they are warm and make me think of spring…smiles….
be around once i get the kids out of here…long day…two teachers out today so i was filling in and no planning time…or down time since 8 this morning…barely scarfed down a sandwich for lunch….so i am ready for poetry…smiles.
brian miller said:
its a good exercise too as it is not easy for those of us that like to write long to cut…hahaha
shanyns said:
I just got in from work – it was a long day here. Can’t wait to see how you all do with this. And I know it is a challenge for you with your skills at longer poetry. *smiles* but it is a challenge you’ll rise to I’m sure!
Mary said:
Nice prompt, Shanyn! Sometimes it is a good thing to try to be concise in one’s writing. It is not the easiest task to limit one’s poetry to under 140 characters. Smiles.
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Woke up and started taking a few shots to go with three American sentences I wrote for your prompt last night. I hope this qualifies. Nice prompt, Shanyn!
claudia said:
american sentences are cool…
brian miller said:
ha you know if i did not know you better gay…i might question you waking up and taking a few shots….smiles….lol
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Yeah…NOT those kind of shots. I really need to write more clearly. This made me smile though.
brian miller said:
hahahaha….smiles.
shanyns said:
Glad you are enjoying it Mary, and yes American Sentences work for this very well! 🙂 and shots you say…my shots are usually coffee!
Anthony Desmond said:
really great prompt Shanyn… I dig drawing inspiration from photography, so this is a lot of fun… smiles… can’t wait to see everyone’s poems with the 140 character limit.
claudia said:
smiles.. i wrote mine in a twitter window to get the count down…
Anthony Desmond said:
lol me too!!
shanyns said:
That is cool using the Twitter window to keep the characters in check…that counts spaces too, you took the hard route for sure!
Anthony Desmond said:
I know, right? my final product came to exactly 140 with spaces… had to rewrite a few times.
shanyns said:
that is hard! 🙂 But very good too…
Grace said:
Thanks for the lovely challenge Shanyn ~ Such a challenge to pare down the words but if you are into haiku or twitter like poems, this is a cool exercise ~ Happy Tuesday everyone ~
claudia said:
true… i find short poems much more difficult to write than long and wordy ones…
shanyns said:
It is a fun exercise and it a good one for keeping things tight.
Linda said:
Hi guys! This sure sounds like a fun challenge. Alas, I have also taken a break from my blog over the winter and have only recently come back to it. And d’Verse.
There’s a new schedule! I posted a poem on my blog, but it doesn’t adhere to the prompt.
I guess I’ll post the link here instead of Mr. Linky in case anyone would like to take a look. Looking forward~
Cheers!
http://lindamanning.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/poem-fleeting/
claudia said:
over to read… hope you gonna join us with a micro poem as well…smiles
Linda said:
Thank you, Claudia. I’ll see if I can come up with a micro. Meanwhile, I think I’ll visit some of the bloggers. 🙂
claudia said:
very cool.. have fun reading linda
shanyns said:
Thanks for sharing your link! Welcome back and I’m looking forward to your micro poetry as well.
Linda said:
Thanks, Shanyn! I have missed you all. Lots of great work out on the trail today. It all just makes me happy. 🙂
shanyns said:
♥
brian miller said:
thanks for stopping over Linda…we still have OLN its just the last saturday of the month….hope to see you make it back for the prompt…smiles.
Linda said:
Hey, Brian! I’ll have to bookmark the schedule. I’d like to try my hand at more of the instructionals. See you out there!
kelly said:
Love this idea, macro photography is one of my favorite things in life! Looking forward to everyone’s contributions!
claudia said:
ah yes – your photos are always breath-taking – you have such a wonderful eye for details kelly
kelly said:
Oh! *blushing*…thanks so much, Claudia!
brian miller said:
ha. smiles.
shanyns said:
I love your photos so this will be a double treat – words and images!
Joseph Hesch said:
Thanks for the “little” inspiration, Shanyn. Loved your blue feather pic and pulled one of my own. Great exercise.
shanyns said:
Thanks Joseph. It’s a fun one I think, and challenging too. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s poetry.
Linda Rogers said:
Love this prompt Shanyn. Hopefully I’ll have some time to drop a poem and a pic.
claudia said:
that would be cool linda
shanyns said:
I’m looking forward to it!
freyathewriter said:
Micro poetry for Macro photography – a great idea, Shanyn! Especially when time is limited 🙂
claudia said:
hmmm…enjoyed your pomegranates
shanyns said:
It is, and sometimes I only think of poetry in snippets, so this fits for those as well…and sounds cooler than ‘fragments’ or ‘incomplete thoughts’! 🙂
freyathewriter said:
That’s very true – I often have little phrases pop into my head at the most inconvenient times, so if I can remember them long enough, they often turn into the start of, or a complete, poem.
shanyns said:
or a delightful micropoem! 🙂
welshstream said:
Would love to have posted as I love taking macro photos but my welshstream blog is corrupted and I’m having trouble sorting it out (it seems that my url has become assigned to The Bonny Blog ~ very weird ~ so I can’t post anything) so I shall sit back, drink a large malt and enjoy your contributions …
claudia said:
ugh…that is weird… i do hope you get it sorted out quickly…
brian miller said:
not cool man…sorry to hear that…
hope you get it sorted…
shanyns said:
Sorry to hear your blog has been taken over like that – hoping you can get it fixed up soon! You can always share a micro here in the comments if one comes to you!
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Maybe you should just retrieve your posts and start a new blogger or wordpress. Will they let you do that?
claudia said:
will be away for a bit…watching blacklist…smiles
Victoria C. Slotto said:
I love Blacklist. This should be a good one! Don’t tell me.
brian miller said:
oo i love blacklist too….smiles.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
This is such a great prompt, Shanyn. It would be fun to do a whole book of these!
I would like to do another. Used an old picture of the hubby’s.
shanyns said:
Keep em coming! I love that this is inspiring so many.
brian miller said:
do another v….
we have all day tomorrow as well….
shanyns said:
We do, I’m going to savor them, and add a set of my own later once the small man is asleep. I’m being regaled with Angry Birds and Bad Piggies stories. 🙂
Susan said:
Hi all–I took a chance here. I understand the micro, but the macro not so much.
shanyns said:
I’m looking forward to it. The micro was short poetry, the macro was for images – getting in super close for the details we don’t always see.
Susan said:
O. Then I think I’ve got it! I’ll be back to read after Tuesday worship.
shanyns said:
Yay!
Anthony Desmond said:
hmm. my last three visits, my comments aren’t going thru for some reason… annoying when you write a long comment and then it doesn’t post. ugh
brian miller said:
ack. were they to wordpress blogs?
i had to shut down my computer earlier as the comment boxes on wordpress were condensing and not letting me post….
Anthony Desmond said:
they were… so restarting your computer solved the problem?
brian miller said:
yep…
sometimes it can be the server you are on as well…
if it has a security firewall…like when i am at school…
but usually if i restart they open up again….
Gabriella said:
I just found your comments in my spam box, Anthony. WordPress is being too zealous today. Thank you for commenting, twice!
Anthony Desmond said:
oh, they’re going to spam!? thanks for letting me know… smiles.
claudia said:
back and catching up…smiles
brian miller said:
so blacklist is over eh?
i will be watching later…def at an interesting turn in the story…ha….
claudia said:
ah – i just love it – think we’re way behind though as it only started over here a few weeks ago…i’m addicted… smiles
brian miller said:
oh it does not come on again here until next week…we are on episode 16…oh it only gets better…i love the character of the anti-hero
stardustpoet64 said:
Great idea especially since we are all looking for those small signs of Spring. I am glad I got to be here.
claudia said:
nice to having you here carla
stardustpoet64 said:
Thank you I need to do it more often 🙂
brian miller said:
cool…enjoy visiting carla…
yours was def well done….
stardustpoet64 said:
Thanks man .. I am making the rounds to read now. A real treat for me 🙂
shanyns said:
thanks for joining in! 🙂
claudia said:
ok – bedtime over here for me… will be catching up tomorrow morning…
shanyns said:
sleep well!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
As a twitter fan I enjoyed this a lot… Ha.. I need to make my rounds before going to bed… Rome was brief but nice…
brian miller said:
nice…i would take Rome, even in brief….smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ha.. Rome in briefs would be totally weird though
brian miller said:
hahahahaha…
you would not catch me in briefs though..
too constraining…smiles.
Gabriella said:
Thank you for the challenge, Shanyn! I enjoyed reading some very strong poems.
shanyns said:
I am enjoying them too! It is so humbling to see my images with such wonderful poetry! I am loving the results of this challenge.
brian miller said:
alright…dinner time here…
be back in a bit to catch up with those reading….
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
A challenging prompt. I write lots of haiga – small poems which I fit into the spaces in my photographs. I’ve linked an old one, though it is only 138 characters not counting spaces. Tomorrow I’ll try a new one, as I have a store of pictures panting for poems!
shanyns said:
Oh sweet, sounds lovely. I can’t wait to see more!
arandomstateofmind said:
This is really an unique prompt. Loved it 🙂 This being my first post for dVerse | Poets Pub and I would like to thank Abhra for letting me know about the existence of this wonderful site.
brian miller said:
hey you…i know you from PU…smiles…glad to see you here…
and welcome…
arandomstateofmind said:
Thank you so much Brian…now I notice some other familiar faces from PU. Glad to be here.. 🙂
shanyns said:
Welcome here, so glad to see you! 🙂
arandomstateofmind said:
Thanks a lot …..really liked your prompt 🙂
shanyns said:
🙂
aprille said:
What fun!!
Had a busy day in the Zoo today, trying out my new camera.
Lots of macro so I was glad to get a chance to show you.
Learned to use my zoom. Now I’m exhausted so visiting tomorrow.
Thanks Shanyn for your fun idea.
aprille said:
By the way: I can’t count. Don’t bite my head off for the extra characters. Only a few 🙂
brian miller said:
nice…a fun place to play and spend time…get some rest aprille…see you tomorrow…
shanyns said:
Oh the zoo, what fun! Glad you enjoyed the prompt and no there won’t be any biting here. Save that for the zoo *smiles*
kkkkaty1 said:
Shanyn, thanks….I love macro photography! Lately however I’ve been busy with stories and watercolor classes. I will be back later this evening to comment, but want you to know how much I enjoyed this prompt as an exercise..something different 😉
shanyns said:
Glad you enjoyed it, and I’d love to hear about your watercolor classes, never have taken macro photos of a watercolor before…hmmmm…:-)
kkkkaty1 said:
…no not macros of watercolor…just concentrating on painting classes now as opposed to photography..;)
shanyns said:
ah cool!
shanyns said:
Thanks for the heads up on the link, and I’m glad you joined in. It’s a fun form, and challenging too!
Paula Tohline Calhoun said:
Thank you, Claudia for the wonderful idea, and for getting the link to me in time. I still don’t know why I did not get it in the first place!
shanyns said:
Glad you made it!
ManicDdaily said:
Fun prompt Shanyn– I need a new computer as mine gives out at times– like now– but this was nice and short so was able to post from phone. My computer now reviving but I’ve gotten it posted and am still on phone so forgive typos! K.
shanyns said:
Typos forgiven! 🙂 Glad to see you here, and so thankful for our devices that let us do things when our computers poop out!
Bodhirose said:
Enjoyed this, Shanyn. Struggled a while with needing one more little letter to make 140…but I did it. Your photos are lovely…such vibrant colors and loved the tiny bugs, birds and flowers. I love the tiniest details of nature…like you said the pattern on a dragonfly wings. I like to get close and examine the tiny…smiles. Thanks for a fun prompt.
brian miller said:
you did very well gayle….
nice wisdom in those last couple lines….
headed off to bed…see the rest of you in the AM
shanyns said:
So glad you were able to join us, it was fun. I love doing a macro shot and then zooming in to see the rest of the detail when it is on the computer! There is such wonder in small things.
Bodhirose said:
I totally agree…I love looking at those small things. Yes, it was great fun…enjoy trying to write something in a limited amount of characters too.
shanyns said:
🙂
MarinaSofia said:
Not sure if my picture really qualifies as macro photography, but it is a close-up of cables leading down into the tunnel of one of the LHC experiments at CERN. I wasn’t allowed any closer and was afraid my camera could not handle too much magnification (either that or I am a technologically challenged person, probably the latter).
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade) said:
Well, I wonder if my earlier comment went into spam too. But I was having a heck of a lot of trouble with my internet access at the time, so maybe it just disappeared into cyberspace. I see I completely misunderstood the term macrophotography, so I have used vast skyscapes instead of fine details. But I do love writing poetweets, so I got carried away and did five! I made them exactly 140 characters (excluding spaces) which is more than we are allowed on twitter, and it was actually hard to get the number so high!
shanyns said:
Cool that you got a whole set done! Wow…and yes it is a bit different when you don’t count the spaces Twitter style.
Abhra Pal said:
Hey Shanyn – I didn’t comment in here last night – your shots look more beautiful with the post – I just wanted to say thanks for creating interest in micropoetry – it’s so much fun. Looks like will be doing it regularly from now on.
I didn’t get a chance to read what we have on this prompt – but will head for that now. Cheers!
shanyns said:
Thank you! 🙂 I like micropoetry too, more and more.
brian miller said:
good morning everyone….
i will be around today…checking in
hope you have a great wednesday
shanyns said:
Morning! I’ll be here, doing some work on the computer and drinking some coffee and reading poetry. And yes I’ll have my own response to the prompt up shortly! 🙂
tigerbrite said:
Beautiful photos of yours with amazing perspectives. I don’t think I’ve done the prompt right (again) because I have less than 140 characters.
brian miller said:
less is good…
more is not
so you are just fine ….
thanks for dropping over to my place already…
Maggie Grace said:
Love the prompt and you have amazing photos!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I’m finally back to comment again.. it’s been an intense day today 🙂
brian miller said:
ha. i hear you man….just got home and playing a bit of catch up myself….hopefully nothing you could not handle…smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I have caught up.. I think..
brian miller said:
we just had a mad run at the pub…ha…
my power went out right after i caught up before…
just came back on and the pub was full…lol.
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade) said:
I had a second attempt, with photos closer to the idea of macrophotography. (I am not sure they are that; they are extreme close-ups, and didn’t all turn out as sharp as I’d have liked, even with editing.) To tell the truth I’m not thrilled with the verses, but it’s been a fun prompt. How timely that the local library is about to run a free workshop on digital photography. I’ll be going along to hone my skills. 🙂
shanyns said:
Thanks for joining in, and I am glad you are taking the workshop. Macro is a challenge but like most things creative (poetry or photography) the more you do the better you become! Kudos for honing your craft.
Paula Tohline Calhoun said:
I think I got it right this time! I hope! I shall try to be more observant in the future , and read the rules more carefully!
brian miller said:
glad you made it back paula…
shanyns said:
Thanks for coming back to play!
enthusiasticallydawn said:
After I was through laughing at myself and my density, and after reading a bunch of the wonderful bits shared tonight I realized I messed up real good. WHich is why I used to come by when the rules were so loosey goosey…but I hope you will pop on by and check out my 2nd attempt at this endeavor. Thanks Brian and Shanyn for pulling me out of the mud…lol. But, this was fun…in a torturous way! Happy POETIC night…missing you all.
shanyns said:
http://enthusiasticallydawn.com/2014/03/12/spring-allies
Here is the link for Dawn’s re-take on the prompt. Kudos poet for coming back for another shot! Well done! 🙂
You know this means we want to see you back again for another prompt, right? Right!
brian miller said:
tagged her back in above….
shanyns said:
Awesome
enthusiasticallydawn said:
This was fun…oh, I am a lazy poet! I need to be stretched…I will be back. Just like Arnold. Muahahaha
Imelda said:
Thanks for the prompt. A little spring was what I needed. 🙂
rosross said:
I have been travelling and missed Mr Linky so will post here.
http://roslynrosssmallstones.blogspot.com/2014/03/red-chair.html
I have to say I find image prompts quite inspiring. A picture as they say is worth a thousand words.
brian miller said:
cool i am sure if you read a couple you will have some come over…