Eight #verselove 2019 with Travis Crowder

Inspiration

Poems from images. How do images evoke strong reactions? How can we turn those reactions into poems? I love to start writing from images. Pictures, especially ones with deep stories, compel my writing, both in my notebook and with my students.

Poem Process

Choose an image–a photograph, an image from history, a gorgeous landscape–and let your thinking land on the page. Let the words pool and then, once the collection grows, start arranging them. Let the poem sit for a moment, then return to it. You’ll be amazed at the thinking you want to add. Here a link to The New York Times’ “A Year of Picture Prompts.”

This image from World War I is one that evokes a strong emotional reaction within me. Words that came to mind were mist, death, loyalty, Dulce et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen), destruction, fear, and so on. Once these words were collected, I began arranging them, adding additional thinking, and just letting the poem grow. I returned to this poem several times to continue adding words and lines until it reached a noticeable stopping point.

Travis’s Poem

Mists of war invade the open field.
Trees licked with fire, leafless and black,
Cast shadows on the frozen ground.
Smoke rubs its back against the bodies,
While crimson seeps into the ground
And sparkle with horrifying beauty.
As bullets evacuate with fiery zest,
A mosaic of fear lingers in the air,
Each face stitched into the fabric of conflict,
Twisting,
Turning,
Moving,
Yearning,
And choking out prayers for the end,
As they watch helpless comrades writhe with seeming ecstasy,
The bullets forcing them into a remarkable dance
Before they plunge toward nothingness,
A shell of a warrior,
A memory of a human,
But finally free.
Did it have to come to this, you say?
If you could witness the horror of war,
The coldness that lingers in hearts,
And the appetite for war
That ravages those desperate for glory,
You would not believe hollow lies
And leprous tongues
Promising greatness without honor,
Without love,
Without dignity.
**Wilfred Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum Est was one that I returned to because of my interest in the image and WWI. If there is a poem, either one you’ve already written or one related to the image you’ve selected, return to it, borrow lines, and allow your poem to grow from those additions.

You can post a link to your picture at the end of your poem in the comments sections, but your words will be enough. As always, the inspirations here are merely suggestions. Write what in your heart or on your mind, and we will welcome your verse.

Travis Crowder, M.Ed., is a middle school English/Language Arts teacher at
East Alexander Middle School in Hiddenite, NC. He has taught for ten years and has experience in both middle and high school levels. He currently teaches 7th grade ELA and social studies, and works with the gifted and talented students in his school. He and Todd Nesloney co-authored Sparks in the Dark: Lessons, Ideas, and Strategies to Illuminate the Reading and Writing Lives in All of Us.