Keeping It Short
If you’ve known me and my poetry for a while, you probably know I enjoy writing short Japanese forms like haiku, senyru, and tanka, so when today’s prompt was to write a short poem, it was like someone handed me a gift after the day I had yesterday. One of the things I enjoy doing is creating poetry from photos I’ve taken. In the past, I’ve even made memes out them, so I decided to sift through some of my old photos and use them for today’s inspiration. I hope you’ll enjoy them.
A fly on the rocks
a stranger in a strange land
nothing keeps him there
Side by side color
laugh their way through the drizzle
Come, we will chase them
See the driftwood dance
She steps aside to curtsy
He bows deep in awe
Sailor home from war
needs medical attention
A kiss works well too
The six-toed cat dreams
of the kitties he's known and
sexy rendezvous
Fish swim in the sky
not in water but blue air
The world upside-down
Ballet position
but no dancing feet in sight
Jete in the sky
Everything looks gray
beautiful blue eye opens
My heart grows lighter
Bird of Paradise
splendid colors in the sun
Someone cut your wings
Take an umbrella
A rainy day in Boston
Watch out for tourists
Elise Skidmore ©2026
For those of you who often appreciate the photographs I use in my posts, all of the photos in this post were taken by me, not collected from pixabay.com.
Here are a few of those older, meme-like offerings, in case you’re interested.
I love your photos as much as your poems! You are multi-talented. 🙂
Thanks so much, Linda. I’ve always loved taking photos, even though I don’t understand the technical aspects of it. (My cameras are point & shoot.) I guess I get that from my mother–though she didn’t take nearly as many photos as I do, but then that was long before digital came along. I haven’t really been taking as many random photos as I used to, so I had to hunt through a bunch to find these. So glad you liked them.
Love these, great imagery throughout. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much, Cornelia. I’ve seen your photos and poetry, so it means a lot.
Darn great concept. I really enjoyed reading them because of the photos. There’s your next book complete with select photos. You are very prolific!
Thanks so much, Michael. These particular haiku were written specifically for each of the photos. I’m not sure but might actually have used a couple of the photos in the published books. The haiku here are all new though. I’ve always liked the short Japanese forms. They seem like a snapshot all by themselves. I’m not sure all of these ku would stand on their own, but I do think they work well with the photos that inspired them.
I really loved these photos and poems. How cool are they! How cool are you! 🤩
Thanks, Rosemary. It’s not often I’m told I’m cool, so that’s pretty cool in itself. I’m really glad you liked these shorties so much.