Surveying cool grey slate,
Shapes form, then colors
Rainbowed characters drawn
Shade shift, flavors pique
Sensory extravaganza
But only in our minds
What is is a unidimensional
Flat map of what could be
How do we inflate the dream
Into three dimensions?
Winds, planets, satellites
Water pools, veins, capillaries
Mountains, valleys, caves
The greenleafs and furred
The scaled and naked ones
Three dimensions lush, full
But still an empty caricature
Without holy, magic things
Meandering in, between spaces
Hearts, souls, cosmic synapses
Reena Saxena is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge. Reena says:
[paraphrasing] The image is the prompt this week.
Also linking to:
Mish is today’s host for dVerse‘ Open Link Night.
Tao Talk 
Brilliant, and one of your best! I was hooked to every word, and then the last para generated a flurry of emotions. Thank you!
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Reena, thank you very much and glad you connected with it. <3
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Reblogged this on Reena Saxena and commented:
Cool, grey slate ….. by Jade Li/Lisa
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What a wonderful take on the prompt, Li!
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Thank you, Punam :)
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You are welcome. 🙂
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So beautiful Li.
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Thanks Sadje :)
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You’re welcome my friend
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Too many of our maps are flat…this is just right. (K)
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I’ve been reading about Humboldt, a guy they named a park after in Chicago. He is a very interesting guy who made a lot of maps.
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I love maps. In every dimension.
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I like looking at maps on road trips.
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Wonderful three-dimensional poetry, JadeLi.
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Len, thank you very much.
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Very nicely done Jade
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Thank you, Jude.
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My pleasure 🌼
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A most splendid response to the prompt! Just wowww! 💝💝
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Sanaa, thank you <3
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An impressively precise and original enquiry here, which os also expressed so lyrically and with some terrific lines as you draw to a close. Terrific writing Lisa and a joy to read tonight…
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Scott, thank you so much!
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Terrific response to the image challenge. I love maps too, and for years refused to even use GPS. A lifetime of road trips, and maps unfolded on car hoods and picnic tables.
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You and I have something in common with loving maps. I’ve gotten burned badly by GPS more than once. Maps are dependable and you never get too far off the path with one unless you choose to.
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The style reminds me of some poems by William Carlos Williams. This is wonderful poetry! Lisa :)
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What a nice comment, Jay. Glad you enjoyed reading the poem. Thank you.
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You’re welcome.
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I also love maps – can’t stand satnavs – and love the different shapes and colours, the contours and lines. That’s a great question, Lisa:
‘How do we inflate the dream
Into three dimensions?’
And I agree, we need those ‘holy, magic things / Meandering in, between spaces / Hearts, souls, cosmic synapses’.
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Ah, another map lover :)
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Very beautiful!
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Thanks, Lucy!
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I’m a fellow map-lover. GPS is like driving with a bag over one’s headd! I want to SEE where I’m going! Love your last paragraph!
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Glad to hear it, Beverly. I don’t trust GPS and so many times my phone lost connection and it became a matter of dreading. Pulling out a map is a whole different and better experience I think. Thank you and glad you liked it.
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I love the idea of the map coming to life with endless possibilities, three dimensional memories yet to be made and all those wonderful things that fill in the spaces.
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:) Glad you like the idea, Mish
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Wow- so spiritual, what an amazing outlook on the world and life itself. Beautiful ✨
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Why thank you :)
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Love the slate chalk board. Used one for several years when I started teaching. Your poem sounds like a transformation of evolution. Well done.
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Thank you, Dwight.
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Fascinating poetic mapping. You certainly bring the lines into another dimension of feeling and understanding.
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Thank you, Navasola :)
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I love your last stanza–all the in-between. Maps are fascinating, and they often tell reveal much about the mapmaker as well.
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Thank you so much for your comment, Merril. Lately I’ve been studying explorer Alexander von Humboldt, who was a mapmaker. Very interesting fellow!
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