Paint Chip Poetry Prompt #17
It’s week 17 and I’m finding myself thankful for this weekly anchor on my blog. I look forward every week to seeing what you all pen based on my randomly drawn paint chip cards.
I Predict a Challenge
This week’s prompt is a call for your best predictions. Maybe you’ll come up with an educated guess or write based on what you’ve seen before. I predict that this group of paint chips will inspire some excellent poetry. I can’t wait to read what you have to write about jade, alpine, red flag, snow angel, rich soil, obsidian, and panther, or at least three of those words or phrases.
My Poem
Okay, I have to confess I struggled with this one. I always want to get all the words in. I ended up with three different poems before I got to one I liked. Ultimately I decided to share two of those three here. One is just weird and silly; the other is more serious. I’m going to start with the serious one.
I Predict Sorrow
If a man carves an intricate panther
From black obsidian or rare green jade
Then praises and exalts this creation
That with his own hands he has made
He may forget the one God whose hand
First created the rocks from rich soil
And miss the blessings our Lord freely offers
Only sorrow will come from his toil
And now for the silly one.
A Meta-Poem Prediction
I predict this poem will be crazy
Like a panther tired of being lazy
It won’t involve an ounce of obsidian
But for me will be quite quotidian
There once was a girl called Jade
Who marched in an alpine parade
She carried a lovely red flag
As she marched she’d zig and she’d zag
Then flop on snow-covered rich soil
To make a snow angel no one dared spoil
Your Turn
So what will it be? Will you write something serious or something silly? Will you use all the words or only a few? Whatever you decide, please share. I mean, seriously, if I can post that second poem for the world to read, you can share whatever treasure you come up with. Post your poem in the comments, or post it on your blog and share a link in the comments.
Share this:
I predict a chuckle
Another word for jade is yu.
It comes in handy when playing Scrabble.
You might see a panther in the zoo.
A red flag was carried to warn any rabble
Of a steam train’s passage midst smoke and oil.
That’s recorded in obsidian black and white as snow.
Angel-like alpine flowers don’t need rich soil
To make them germinate and grow.
(Pity about the punctuation mark between snow and angel!)
You predicted correctly! This made me chuckle.
…and where is your third one Linda?
Scribbled on a piece of paper destined for the trash.
Low Risk Predictions
I predict an abundant harvest from the rich soil
the kind that rewards us for our immense toil
I predict the children will produce a snow angel
high in the alpine mountains where the snow fell
I predict a night as black as an obsidian panther
to be followed by a glorious day filled with laughter
I predict the value of jade will not fade with time
just like the value of life increases by design
I predict that taunting a bull with a little red flag
while running in the streets is no reason to brag
Some choose to make their predictions wild and bold
but my predictions seem simple and safe so I’m told
Great predictions, simple though they may be. I believe they’ll all come true in time.
I love this, Ron!
Just had to try again! 🙂
Like an obsidian sheet
beneath the fallen snow
Angel says, “I predict
a great harvest
from this rich soil
of souls.”
Simple and beautiful. I especially like how you split snow and angel, still technically using the phrase while creating something totally different. 🙂
https://mehflowers.wordpress.com/2020/04/24/3999/