Imagery Excercise

[Torana]

Ok just thought that I would post up an imagery excercise for anyone who is interested.

Basically all you do is utilise the words in the provided list below and write a line to describe it, be as imaginative as possible and as abstract as possible.

* a knife

* a cirlce

* a shadow

* a sword

* a window

* a photograph

* sunrise

* a flower

* a tree

Ok well there you go, just a few words for you to have a play with.
I just thought that it may help some people to get a better idea on imagery for their poetry.

~Torana

[Cogito]

I'll give it a try. Is this the kind of thing you had in mind?

* a knife
gleaming steel tongue, thirsty for life's red wine

* a circle
chasing itself tirelessly with neither beginning nor end

* a shadow
His dark ghost huddled on the ground behind him, hiding from the moon's harsh gaze

* a sword
flashing death swept through the air, singing as it hewed flesh.

* a window
a filmy oblong sentinel, permitting light's entry but refusing the wind

* a photograph
His visage frozen in a flat paper prison, a moment convicted and sentenced with no parole.

* sunrise
fire spilled and flickered across the horizon, heralding the imminent arival of the Sun.

* a flower
Soft, red hands cupped the sunlight, trembling in the breeze, letting free their sweet perfume

* a tree
A gnarled grey old man, ancient yet hale, stretched leafy arms to embrace the refreshing rain

[SnipSnap]

Cogito ... some advice on poetry ... It's good to be descriptive ... but don't get overwordy! You simply have too many adjectives. You do a great job of inflicting an image in our heads, it just takes too many literations to get the job done.

[Cogito]

Thanks SnipSnap. I'm not at all strong in poetry, but this exercise was an irresistable challenge.

I'm eagerly anticipating seeing what the real poets on the board do with Torana's trial.

[mammamaia]

a knife
cold steel strikes when blood runs hot

a cirlce
essential wombdom, wellspring of life

a shadow
creeping penumbral image

a sword
man's favored appendage, negating life

a window
seeing without being

a photograph
life's lively tedium caught in a lifeless medium

sunrise
...and she said, "Let there be light!"

a flower
mother nature's mutable beauty

a tree
staunch defender of an endless plain

...nice little exercise, torana... so, how come you didn't give it a go yourself?

[Crazy Ivan]

As abstract as possible, eh?
Hmm....


* a knife
An outline
Where air is thin
A gleam
Where life is cut

* a circle
Chalk lines are
The devil's prison

* a shadow
I'm following myself
Afraid of what I'll do.

* a sword
Honor in blood;
Beauty in death;
Rage in flesh.

* a window
Through
Up
Above
God doesn't shut things, he makes them.

* a photograph
That was then.
This is now.

* sunrise
Who painted the sky?
I left my brushes here last night
And now they're all above me.

* a flower
If you had taken
My gift of flowers
I would have stolen
Yours.

* a tree
Some things aren't quite as real
As others.
Some things bend to wind.
Others harness it.

[SnipSnap]

As Abstract As Possible ...
I Did My betsy:

* a knife

Rrrrrrrrrrrrruflles have Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrridges

* a circle

Erectile Dysfunction Gone Bad.

* a shadow

Mosh Pit's Reflection

* a sword

Loki, Heel!

* a window

Imp streaks; Van Gough has an Inspiration!

* a photograph

Olympian Margot, sparse dividend.

* sunrise

Narcoleptic Holiday

* a flower

What's in Maine?
That which we call a growth by any other Mane
would grope as sweet?

* a tree

Goblins dwell in the inverse.

[Torana]

* a knife trust between friends severed

* a cirlce deceipt that never ends

* a shadow lies are all that are displayed

* a sword a silvery whisper through a mirky dream

* a window illusional captivation in the mind

* a photograph soul forever entombed

* sunrise slow burning of the worlds aura

* a flower perfume to elude all hate

* a tree the centre of the universe


There you have it my attempt at my own excersice....

[Gannon]

As Abstract As Possible ...
I Did My betsy:

* a knife

Rrrrrrrrrrrrruflles have Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrridges

* a circle

Erectile Dysfunction Gone Bad.

* a shadow

Mosh Pit's Reflection

* a sword

Loki, Heel!

* a window

Imp streaks; Van Gough has an Inspiration!

* a photograph

Olympian Margot, sparse dividend.

* sunrise

Narcoleptic Holiday

* a flower

What's in Maine?
That which we call a growth by any other Mane
would grope as sweet?

* a tree

Goblins dwell in the inverse.

Unabound abstract - though luckily in your poems you use this sort of thing sparingly so that it has effect, rather than impenatrability - you know I'm a fan of your work!

[Gannon]

* a knife - a smiling extension of oneself

* a circle - repetitive infinity

* a shadow - the baggage and burden that we carry in our subconscious, projected at length and inextricably attached to ourselves

* a sword - a teasing fallic ornament

* a window - a pernicious hole through which the world can be distorted

* a photograph - a stolen memory

* sunrise - metaphor for inevitabilty

* a flower - is but a loose host and lover

* a tree - the goalposts of ages

An tough exercise Torana - I feel I've been shown up by all of the above efforts!

[Torana]

An tough exercise Torana - I feel I've been shown up by all of the above efforts!

Not At all Gannon, you have done a comendable job at this. I like the ones you came up with actually.

Glad that you have all had a go at this, it is wonderful as even though some may not have joined in I think that if they read through things like this it may give them a bit of help with imagery.

Well hope this has helped someone out and I will be posting up more in the near future so keep your eyes peeled. Although they will be very different.

I was thinking about doing something with ryhming and things like that, I tend to do this all the time as I have writers block and find that it helps me out quite a bit.

I love the way everyone's is so different, they were all so enjoyable to read through. Great work everyone :D

~Torana

[Frost]

* a knife
Friend and foe.

* a cirlce
Nothing more than infinite straight lines.

* a shadow
The bare essentials of an object.
Void of detail. Void of emotion.

* a sword
Life and death encompassed in one metal object.

* a window
Transperant walls.

* a photograph
Lights prison.

* sunrise
The kiss of a completed revolution.

* a flower
Colour and life riding the wind.

* a tree
Life giving angels; an everday miracle.

[Myst]

* a knife
A flimsy balancing scale of life and death, trembling unsteadily in ignorant hands.

* a circle
Disgruntled Father Time;
ramming midget spectacles up a
semicorporeal nose
strolling by limp and moodily glowering
to the Past and Future hims that sidle by
trying to concrete the position of their glasses.

* a shadow
Our mortality, binding us to breath and soil- till the sun set away and God collects our toil.


* a sword
Adolescent Death, raised by men

* a window
Passages that lead to other windows, which in turn lead to different passages

* a photograph
Flesh of the moment
raped bloodless and mute
by basilisk tongue.

* sunrise
His death and birth in one chime

* a flower
Aging swimsuit models

* a tree
Residences of the seasons

[Torana]

wow Frost those were awesome, so were yours myst. I like the imagery you have both displayed here.

I will do another soon, hope you all decide to have a go at it for some fun.

~Tor

[jolee]

A Knife
Sharp and glinting in the moonlight

A Circle
Never ending, going round for ever

A Shadow
Dark and foreboding,following you through the night

A Sword
A knight's tool from long ago

A window
A picture frame fopr the outside world

A Photograph
Pictures of loved one's past and present,imortalised forever

Sunrise
New beginnings

A Flower
symbols of love and death

A tree
power everlasting

[Heather Louise]

ok, so not as good as everyone else's but here's my attempt.


* a knife – utterly butterly covered

* a circle – the line of love that never ends

* a shadow – where dark things lie, or shy ones hide

* a sword – the metallic margin between beauty and death

* a window – the eyes on the world that you just can’t reach

* a photograph – a reminder of a memory easily forgotten

* sunrise – the fire of life that warms the earth

* a flower – the symbol of regret when a man does wrong

* a tree – the rings of life that tell the tale of nature