It’s back to school and the kids are back home from their grandmother’s. And so the house is filled with the booming sounds from jumping on the floor, shoving and yells of “move it!,” “leave me alone,” and “stop.”
Whew, let’s just say I’m glad I had the forethought to have written and schedule blog content for the next two weeks. If you have young, school age children as well, then you also know that ‘back to school’ isn’t just one day. ‘Back to school’ lasts weeks.
So today’s post, I’m featuring the blending of written and visual content to create what I like to call “phoetry.” Poetry inspired by and added unto photographs I’ve taken and or pictures designed on Canva.com. Enjoy!
- My husband, in-laws and friends had taken a road trip to Canada for Caribana last year. We took a detour to Niagara Falls, which only half of us was really excited about. The other half had been to Niagara Falls before, so the novelty had worn off. So it was just me, my brother-in-law and two other women, who went sight-seeing. And I just happened to take this great shot of the falls on my camera phone. Hence the inspiration behind “Legend of the Falls.”
- This picture was designed by me on Canva.com (as is most of the visual content on this site). I was taking the public metro and was immediately struck on how different things looked. It’d been a while since I’d been at that particular station I haven’t been to since I moved. So different that I didn’t realize they’d added a new train line on the route until it pulled in right in front of me. Thus the inspiration behind this two stanza couplet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t rhyme.
- “The Grind” is a senryu inspired as I sat at my cubicle, zoning out. There’s nothing like being in a box and wanting to be free. The fire picture is thanks to GraphicStock.com
- “Resilient” was inspired by another zoning session. I was mulling over thoughts of being the legs of a table or legs of a chair. An analogy that came to me as I’d remembered the scene in the Cinderella retelling movie Ever After. Where Danielle de Barbarac meets Prince Henry for a second time. Where she is insulted by his arrogance and his low views of Thomas More’s “Utopia.” I’d reasoned that the table is an object of sustenance. While the chair bears the weight of others.
- I wrote this back in college. We were learning the different poetic forms like haiku, sonnets, lai, etc. Their rhyming patterns and meters, and writing our own in our Advanced Poetry Workshop. The limerick was another form of poetry on assignment. I designed this one on Canva.com and tweeted it for St. Patrick’s day.
- As you can see, this poem is not one of my own. “By the Stream” by Paul Laurence Dunbar was a poem I received in my email. All thanks to the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day program. If you haven’t already, sign up to receive a poem a day. And maybe find a poet or two or more to love.
- I’ve recently fell in love with Rita Dove during my 30 Days of Poetry Love project this past April. April is National Poetry Month. And to celebrate I interviewed and posted interviews of 30 poets, one a day. I even created a poet quiz to test your poetry knowledge. Then I found the poem “Trans-” in my email. And like Dunbar’s poem “By the Stream,” I just had to design this on Canva and share it on Tweeter.
Ever wondered the source of inspiration behind a work? And not just a creative piece. What are you working on now? And what inspired you to do it?
Poems are something I admire, I love reading them and enjoying them, but I have never been able to write them myself. x
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I’m glad that you enjoy reading poetry. With all these “poetry is dead” talks, the fact that you enjoy poetry, makes it an undisputed claim.
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Oh, I enjoyed this peep into your creative process. I love the combination of art and poetry! I think I like “Resilient” the best.
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Thank you, lesliesholly.
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Lovely! It is interesting to learn what does inspire people to write. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you, Allison. I also like reading the source of inspiration behind a book. After reading Dianne K. Salerni’s author interview, I added her book “The Eigth Day” to my TBR list, because I love how she likes to research and use legend and myths, in her books.
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Love your idea of “phoetry.” So creative. And I particularly liked “Resilient.” A lot of meaning in that one.
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Thanks Carrie. I’m glad you liked it. Looks like “Resilient” is the popular favorite.
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Poetry and photography are a match made in heaven! Lovely!
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Thank you, Michele. In Ekphrasis poetry, poetry and work of art are an even more match made in heaven. Because it vividly describes, narrates, reflects, amplifies and or expands the meaning, of the art.
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This is great! My favorite? The nun named Hailey :). Thanks for showing us your creative side, I really enjoyed it.
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Thanks, Takisha. It was one of my professor’s favorites too. He just relished the thought of what did the nun named Hailey actually do that night. He really wanted to know, lol.
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These are all really great! I love finding something that moves me and is relevant to how I feel .
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Thank you. I love it when readers feel connected to what I’ve written. Those feelings are my compass on my writing journey.
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I love poetry and photography, so I especially love your idea of phoetry. 🙂
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Thank you, Chrys. 😀
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This is great that you can find inspiration from somewhere other than the computer. Lately, I’ve seen youngsters get inspiration from the internet – I always tell them that the best inspiration comes from places you visit, but unfortunatley, they’re all stuck on their cell phones!
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Unfortunately, we’re in the age of social media. It’s sad that the internet is used for inspiration, when you can also be inspired just from walking out your door. Reading, appreciating and expanding your knowledge in artwork. Or getting out your comfort zone and learning something new. And most importantly, having real, face to face social interaction. Inspiration is truly all around us.
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This was lovely to see where your inspirations came from, and the pictures! Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Leah. I’m glad you enjoyed them.
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Hi Lidy,
I hadn’t thought of canva as a place of inspiration before! I use it for my blog post image over on writingpeoplepoetry.com but I always grab an image after… Next time I’m in canva I’ll be looking at the images differently now! Thanks for the inspiration x
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You’re welcome, Rachael. Nina Amir put me on Canva and all the ways you can use it to create your own visual content.
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I love how you take us through your consciousness a bit, very lovely. I’m going to have to try canva, I keep hearing all about it!
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Thanks April. And you should. Once I heard about Canva, I definitely had to try it out. I keep hearing about PicMonkey too but I haven’t tried it yet.
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Hi – Loved your phrase, ‘phoetry’, for “the blending of written and visual content.” You are really so clever. 🙂
@dino0726 from
FictionZeal – Impartial, Straightforward Fiction Book Reviews
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Aww, shucks. Thanks Dino😶😁
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Phoetry! What a cool idea. I might just go back and dig some old poems of mine and make phoetry too! I liked the one with the St. Patrick´s day hat, very cute.
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Thanks Orana. You just put a big, happy smile on my face. Hope you have just as much fun with phoetry as I did!😆😄
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[…] 10) My Source of Inspiration in Poetry, Photography and Design […]
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[…] 8) My Source of Inspiration… At 33 views, posted in 2015, this post is no stranger to the top ten. In this post I feature poetry snippets and photos I created using Canva. I called it phoetry. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/photo-poetry/ […]
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[…] 9) My Source of Inspiration in Poetry, Photography and Design […]
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