Good Morning! It’s One Shoot Sunday again! The following is quoted to attribute the photographer and the site that supports and encourages The Poetry Challenge of One Shoot Sunday.
“This week, One Stop showcases the work and insights of Scott Wyden, a portrait and travel photographer from New Jersey specializing in landscape and commercial/fashion work. A talented photographer, his name is attached to numerous projects – including creation of the now-sold photowalklist.com, as an editor on HDR Spotting, and as a guest writer for several photo-related websites.”

Image by Scott Wyden
The Sun Sighed at the Earth Today
The sun sighed at the Earth today, the sound,
Lost among voices,
Rushing from the streets
She reached down to caress the Earth,
I felt her fingers trailing through my hair
The sun sighed at the Earth today
Her tears splashed,
Another soul lost in the well
The sun sighed at the Earth today
Her reflection in the moon
A small cool spark, clasped tightly in my hands
The sun sighed at the Earth today
Her breath of desperation
My breath of joy
While shattering the glass surface of the well
The droplets arching down
Each one a thousand stars upon itself
Children’s laughter patters down
I reach
The droplets, watering the iris of my mind’s eye
I reach into the sun
And she sighs at the Earth today
–by elisabeth connelley
watering the iris of my minds eye…excellent line…really enjoyed this…the fingers through the hair…the joy and even sorrow of the sun as she watches….well penned…
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Very cool interaction of Earth with the elements, especially the way water is used throughout. Love the title and its repetition too. Well played challenge response.
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really like the rhythm of this writing …thank you
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the sun sighing at the earth…i like that…also watering iris..beautiful elisa
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“I felt her fingers trailing through my hair” I love this ..I love it all!
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love the line repitition, the rhythem, the imagery. great poem
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Well for someone who says the photo makes her “hiss with distaste”, you have managed to totally ignore its subject, and focus instead on the rays of light. Personally, if I don’t like a photo or the poetic response to it, I just pass it by. What good would it do anyone for me to spill my venom across their space?
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Very interesting, what was your own personal perspective and view of the intent of this image? It takes courage and knowing who one is, to be vulnerable and speak all, even knowing that what was said in one moment, may and probably will, shift in the next. For me, all things of passion are a continuous work in progress. Licking up your venom, rolling it about on my tongue to find all of the subtle nuances that made you, you, in the moment, seduced, engaged, and waiting for more.
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Good use of the refrain in a poem that shows/questions the city as loss of contact with nature
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Thanks John! Ahhh the gain or lack, depending upon experience, of having to reach for nature and only having the heat and buzz of the sun along one’s hair and the drips of rain that sparkle and shine! Magnificent gifts! (even if they are sorrow-filled 😉
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I too had picked up on your lines of comments of ‘hiss and distaste’, yet you have managed to go beyond, pulling through your initial take, to form this beautiful write. Love the form you have chosen to highlight the rays, reflecting all that the earth offers. A beautiful piece!
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Hmm…I suppose that is also within the poem. Though, I posted this as commentary on others’ writings about today’s prompt:
It’s difficult for me to comment on anything connected to this image, as the image itself has me hiss with distaste. Nothing but the sun in it beckons to me and the lack of nature has me wanting to gag. I wanted you to know that I did take the time to read, even with my revulsion at the image prompt.
And then, yes, as I read more of the responses after mine, I got to see a differing perspective and a way to enjoy content and skill in expression, beyond my feelings about the image. And yes, again, I have learned in life to notice and then to move through each thing, watching for what comes, gaining what I need, and leaving the rest.
I thank you for seeing the beauty and adoration of life that I placed within this piece.
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There is something about the poem you cite, and its words, that challenges the photograph, and its essence.
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YES! I didn’t like its energy, so I reached beyond simple conversion of it, and moved into walking alongside of it.
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What a gentle and radiant take on such a sterile prompt. I’ll confess, I couldn’t write to it, so I posted something else and skipped One Shoot for this week. I particularly like the next to last stanza. Very nice indeed. ~sigh~
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I decided to continue being Heyoka today! Wonder which one of us LIVE outside of a city!?!? And, HEY your fireblossom name worked today! Thanks for taking the time to visit.
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‘The droplets, watering the iris of my mind’s eye’
fabulous line
I loved how the sun caressed the earth
~ such a soothing and softness throughout
quite beautiful ~ Lib @Libithins
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Giggles!! Hooray!!! AND I get to see nice words many times 😀
My inner majesty is gleeful!
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I also found this a challenging image to write to. I think you’ve done a great job with a difficult prompt. I love the opening:
“The sun sighed at the Earth today, the sound,
Lost among voices,
Rushing from the streets”
The poem possesses a seductive and gentle intensity.
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I so identify. Great personification. IMPRESSIVE!
http://henryclemmonspoet.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-hear-her-now-sunday-photography.html
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