Monday, June 13, 2011

Magpie Tales Photo Prompt 69: Listening To The Past

shadows of your ocean




for that future 
our house was 
built


a painted 
foundation
to move with
time 
and now - 


and now I 
hold a 
shell of memory
to my ear 
and hear - 


and hear 
shadows of 
your ocean. 




Poem © 2011 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo courtesy of Tess Kincaid
Posted by at

19 comments:

  1. Brother OllieJune 13, 2011 at 6:49 AM

    and now I
    hold a
    shell of memory
    to my ear
    and hear -

    This stanza is excellence...love it!

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  2. Kathe W.June 13, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    this is lovely

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  3. AnonymousJune 13, 2011 at 8:26 AM

    I love the last stanza especially, this is beautiful, very skilled use of the prompt

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  4. Brian MillerJune 13, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    whew...lot of emotion in that shell...only the memories echo...great write...

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  5. kelvin s.m.June 13, 2011 at 8:40 AM

    ...the photo prompt this week along with your words deeply reminded me of a poem i wrote about the suffering i had with my family few years ago... truly a tough one but i did survive from it... great write... thanks for the read.(:

    ~Kelvin

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  6. Tess KincaidJune 13, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    This reaching in, grabbed my heart, and gave it a squeeze.

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  7. JinksyJune 13, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    a delicate interpretation...

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  8. Kristen HaskellJune 13, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    and hear shadows of your ocean - breathtaking.

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  9. Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis HallJune 13, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    superb,

    short, focused, and well done.

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  10. Glenn ButtkusJune 13, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    How marvelous to hear any shadow,
    and the melancholy smeared in the
    spirals of shells, and the silkie's
    sad songs that hide within,
    take us all to that place, to that time,
    and we want to put our collective
    arms around you.

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  11. Kodjo DeynooJune 13, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    The future is in the past somehow.

    Excellent short poem here.

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  12. stevenJune 13, 2011 at 2:48 PM

    rick - i think this is one of your best. steven

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  13. LynJune 13, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    This is so poignant..the ebb and flow of time..lovely.

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  14. Tumblewords:June 13, 2011 at 6:04 PM

    Palpable - breath taking!

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  15. HelenJune 14, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    Your poem made me think of building our homes on sand ... how quickly we can be left with just the memory.

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  16. citybuoyJune 14, 2011 at 8:27 PM

    the last line just hits the spot. this is truly magnificent.

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  17. Lucy WestenraJune 15, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    I love the "shadows of your ocean" Lines like that are not easily come by.

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  18. Jenny WoolfJune 19, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    Moving and skilful.

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  19. JJ Roa RodriguezJune 19, 2011 at 4:41 PM

    you always put emotions in your poems...

    wonderful!...

    JJRod'z

    ReplyDelete

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