Windows of Opportunity - in photos, prose and poetry

Every Photo Tells a Story

     Once again I woke to the sound of rain running through the downspout outside my bedroom window.  As I peered through the rivulets streaking down the pane, disappointment settled like a gray gloom on my spirits.  It had been raining for three days, and I was tired of it.  The weatherman had predicted a break in the sodden skies, and I was hoping for the gladness of sunshine this morning and the resumption of my daily walk.  But Mother Nature had thwarted me and made a mockery out of the forecaster. 

     With a sigh, I heaved myself from the bed and went to seek solace in my ritual morning cup of coffee – sweet, with extra cream.  There I sat at the kitchen window watching my hopes for the day dashed to the ground and forming puddles.  A poem swirled into my restless mind, and headed straight for my fingertips.  Where’s my pen?

     Rainy Day Reverie

rain runs in rivulets down the pane

blurring the world beyond                         

through the window mottled light

dances swirling through the glass

shifting shadows twist

moving, melting

one into the other

ever changing memories

rain-washed dreams

long gone

dreaming all that was

dreaming all that might have been

                        ~ Elizabeth Guy

                                   

 “A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods.”  - Rachel Carson

     A walk in the woods!  Slog through a muddy forest in this downpour?  I don’t think so.  I know!  Instead of mucking about in the rain, I’ll take this opportunity to go mall walking.  And who’s to say no if I want to do a little window shopping while I’m at it?  Mother Nature would approve.  After all, she’s a woman, isn’t she? 

     Who knows?  Maybe I’ll get another poem out of it.  

Life can box me in

Like a girl kept in a frame

Still I shop for shoes!

What windows of opportunity have you peered into?

Coming next week...

Little girls!  Sugar and spice?

 All photos courtesy of Hank Kellner

Also, visit my co-author's blog at http://hank-englisheducation.blogspot.com

See his ten-part series on photo prompts to inspire writing at http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/kellner/

And Don’t Miss…

            English teacher Mara Dukats and writer-photographer Cynthia Staples’ poems “white on white” and “The Absence of Color.” They’re in Part Four of Hank Kellner’s  twelve-part series THE POWER OF PHOTOS TO INSPIRE WRITING at the Creativity Portal  website http://gazette.teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/hank-kellner/using-poems-and-photos-to-inspire-writing-part-4/,  as well as Anna J. Small’s writing assignment in "Viewing and Writing about Photos from Around the World"

            Also, read more about Reflect and Write in the SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL http://www.slj.com/2013/03/curriculum-connections/meeting-the-ccss-through-poetry-professional-shelf/

  

                        Another Helpful Source for Inspiration

For more photos and information not included in this blog, please visit http://www.prufrock.com/Reflect-and-Write-P1752.aspx. Reflect and Write contains more than 300 poems and photos; keywords; quotations; either “Inspiration” or “Challenge” prompts; a “Themes to Explore” section; a “Twelve Ways to Inspire Your Students” section; a special “Internet Resources” section, and more. Includes CD with photos and poems from the book. Reflect and Write: 300 Poems and Photos to Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner and Elizabeth Guy (Prufrock Press, 2013), 153 pages, $24.95.