The old bus
had taken her places;
now here it sits, akilter,
its tired warnings
burnt out long ago.
photo from Glenn A. Buttkus’ facebook site, “South Sound Minimalist Photos”
Today’s offering is in gogyohka form. Many thanks to Glenn for his graciousness in offering us a chance to write to his wonderful minimalist photographs.
Sanaa is today’s host of dVerse‘ Poetics. Sanaa says:
For today’s Poetics, I want you all to select one out of the twelve photographs shared [by Glenn Buttkus] above and write a poem. It can be an Ekphrastic poem, if you like. Go philosophical. Go dark or romantic or solemn. Share what you feel about Minimalist photography when you see it. The idea here is to provoke an emotion, and what better way to pour them out rather than poetry?
When the wheels cease to move, we have only the memories of the roads we have traveled.
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I love this bold, bright image, and how you’ve painted a poetic image of the bus’s former glory!
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Ingrid thank you 🙂
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This is incredibly potent! I can feel the tired warnings as the bus comes alive in your poem. Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt, Lisa 💝💝
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Sanaa, thank you for the kind and thoughtful feedback ❤
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Lisa,
The old makes way for the new, willingly, “its tired warnings
burnt out long ago” — perhaps wisely, perhaps fatalistically. What a dense conciseness of thought! Minimalist in fact. 😉❤️
pax,
dora
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Dora, thank you for noticing the minimalism. The gogyhoka form is short yet isn’t very constrained like some other short forms. Thank you also for your insightful response ❤
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The burnt out warnings. Reminds me of all the things my mother would yell as we ran out the door to school, play dates, or just to explore the woods and neighborhoods nearby.
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Karen, that’s exactly what they are, all those warnings given under the guise it will keep you safe, but in the process takes your liberty from you as you worry…. Thank you for reading and your comment.
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Well done.
Maybe it should be put out to pasture with that rusty truck.
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lol May be! Thanks, Ken.
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Aww, this is poignant. At least it can remember the good ol’ days when the lights were still working.
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Thanks, Lucy 🙂
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A nostalgic poem Li.
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Thank you, Sadje.
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You’re welcome
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Let’s hear it for the gogyohka; a form we should all write one day on MTB. This poem really pleases me, a perfect fit to the image, far exceeding my own prose. Thank you so much for writing to this prompt.
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It was my pleasure to write to it. As I looked through the images this one jumped out at me, probably because its “akilter” 🙂 I am really enjoying reading what people write to the images. Just finished reading yours and was wow-ed!
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I love this Lisa! The tired warnings … a great touch!
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Thanks, Dwight!
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You are welcome!
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Love this, Jade, short and sweet! A reminder to growing old gracefully!
Hank
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Thank you very much for reading and your comment.
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I can relate to this. I love the history of objects that were used and now just sit. That is why I love making old things work again.
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Are you mechanically inclined? I am but am usually too impatient to put it to good use.
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Just on a few things…Can I fix a cool 70s lamp? Yes… a cool 70s clock? Yes I have…but anything intricate? NO…
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I like the idea of tired warnings. It’s something that was once so important, now no longer heeded.
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Thank you, TJS. The adrenal glands can get overworked and wear out, for example with trauma victims and the resulting hypervigilance. Or when trying to survive a pandemic.
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Yes, chronic stress is a killer. We can only go so long functioning at a high stress level before we crash.
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…and end up parked… 🙂
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I like the minimalist poetry form paired with minimalist photo…nice work, Lisa!
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Many thanks, Lynn!
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This is almost like a “coming of age” poem
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Thank you, Christine. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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The soul of a bus…and of course it has one. How weary it must be! (K)
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You’re right. School buses are probably the weariest of all!
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Love the way you simply ‘crush’ poetry forms …. a huge wow from my corner of the world! Poor old bus.
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Helen, what a nice thing to say. Much appreciated, thank you ❤
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Short, deceptively simple, and so effective!
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Thank you!
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You capture it in a few words, Lisa. I like the play of word with “tired.” 😀
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haha! didn’t even notice that until now 🙂
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That’s so funny! 😀
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