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| Broadway Tower, Cotswolds, England (Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year for 2007) Creative Commons photo by Newton2 (cropped by Yummifruitbat) |
FAIRY TALE
Once upon a long ago,
I stood before a tower.
Magic blew in from the east;
the hero met the coward.
Obstacles were overcome,
the happily came after.
Evil withered, crumbled, turned
the page to the next chapter.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013
From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):
I light a match
to this cardboard castle
and burn the story to the ground,
finally free after so many years
of the roles into which we have been thrust:
the hero in shining armor
the damsel in distress
the fool juggling lives before the fickle king.
So now begins the new adventure,
free from the shackles of past
riding hard and fast
into the fading sun.
©Kevin Hodgson, 2013
The podcast is here.
From Carol (Carol's Corner):
“Castle Dream”
the day is all about blue sky
and green grass and
a few wispy clouds and
i will march right up
to the enormous stone castle
after crossing the moat
filled with hungry alligators
i will lift the lions head knocker
bang authoritatively
on the heavy wooden door
and proclaim
i am a long lost princess
here to meet my prince
please let me into
and they lived happily ever after…
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013
From Linda (TeacherDance):
A Plea
Will you come to my castle fair?
I am so awfully lonely there.
‘Tis sitting tall at the top of a hill
and surrounding land is bereft and still.
No forest primeval’s near this hold;
no witches or dragons to shiver you cold.
Just me in the upper turrets of stone
wanting, oh wanting to call you home.
From Carol (Carol's Corner):
“Castle Dream”
the day is all about blue sky
and green grass and
a few wispy clouds and
i will march right up
to the enormous stone castle
after crossing the moat
filled with hungry alligators
i will lift the lions head knocker
bang authoritatively
on the heavy wooden door
and proclaim
i am a long lost princess
here to meet my prince
please let me into
and they lived happily ever after…
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013
From Linda (TeacherDance):
A Plea
Will you come to my castle fair?
I am so awfully lonely there.
‘Tis sitting tall at the top of a hill
and surrounding land is bereft and still.
No forest primeval’s near this hold;
no witches or dragons to shiver you cold.
Just me in the upper turrets of stone
wanting, oh wanting to call you home.
©Linda Baie, 2013
The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is
"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations."
I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!
You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.
Wonderful! I love how you use the tropes of fairy tales with a subtle twist. Your words are a perfect match for the tower: traditional, yet slightly askew.
ReplyDeleteCatherine
Thank you! That's EXACTLY what I was aiming for!!
DeleteI'm always amazed at how you can say so much in so few words. And how those words are so crafted. Every. Single. Day. WOW!
DeleteI light a match
ReplyDeleteto this cardboard castle
and burn the story to the ground,
finally free after so many years
of the roles into which we have been thrust:
the hero in shining armor
the damsel in distress
the fool juggling lives before the fickle king.
So now begins the new adventure,
free from the shackles of past
riding hard and fast
into the fading sun.
- Kevin
Podcast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0HbGeBTTFwS
(not sure why I saw this castle as flat, and maybe cardboard, and what would happen if we tossed aside our story stereotypes and set the characters free. Of course, the last lines brings the stereotype right back.)
Interesting, Kevin. You and I took almost opposite approaches. You imagine people stepping out of stereotypical roles. I imagine someone who has lived outside those typical roles stepping into one. Hmmm…
DeleteIt does look flat and fake! And like the rest of the castle got lopped off or something!
Delete“Castle Dream”
ReplyDeletethe day is all about blue sky
and green grass and
a few wispy clouds and
i will march right up
to the enormous stone castle
after crossing the moat
filled with hungry alligators
i will lift the lions head knocker
bang authoritatively
on the heavy wooden door
and proclaim
i am a long lost princess
here to meet my prince
please let me into
and they lived happily ever after…
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013
If only I were a fairy godmother, I would surely grant your wish (even though it sounds a little demand-y)!!!
DeleteI wonder if we had more castles here in the US if we would think less of the stereotypes? This is an amazing photo, Mary Lee. I keep wondering too what used to be there; it doesn't seem complete? All the poems are awesome approaches to what we grew up with I suppose-the knight, the damsel, etc. I'll try to write later in the day.
ReplyDeleteThis image gave my students a clear example of denotation and connotation. It's a castle (denotation). It makes us think of fairy tales (connotation).
DeleteThe bizarre thing about this castle/tower, Linda, is THAT IS ALL OF IT!! It's triangular, with three towers and a little bit of castle in the middle. That's it! I had to Google it myself, thinking there must have been more at one time. But no. Broadway Tower in the Cotswalds. Check out the aerial view -- that's where you can really see the triangle.
I looked, and it's true-that's it! I'll be back!
DeleteMary Lee, thank you! Here's my response:
ReplyDeleteA Plea
Will you come to my castle fair?
I am so awfully lonely there.
‘Tis sitting tall at the top of a hill
and surrounding land is bereft and still.
No forest primeval’s near this hold;
no witches or dragons to shiver you cold.
Just me in the upper turrets of stone
wanting, oh wanting to call you home.
©Linda Baie, 2013
Lovely. So wistful and full of longing!
Delete