Every picture tells a story, so they say. Much of our writing inspiration comes from images that we see and we all love to pop out and about with our cameras, capturing moments that inspire us.
Take Keith, the carousel horse in the picture above, for example. When I took this picture, I was left wondering whether he looked angry or afraid – was he happy or screaming? Does he dream of escape from his gilded pole? Is he sick of the sight of Jeremy’s backside in front of him? Does he get dizzy or enjoy the whirl?
Our good friend and poet Seth Crook came up with the idea for a section on the Damsel precisely for moments such as this. Have you taken a photograph and written about it? If not, then it might be a new challenge for you! We would like to see the pic and the words that go with it. He has this to say –
‘ I don’t want to read the poem and think “It would be better without the photo”. Or see the photo and think “delete the poem”. What is a pometo? It could be words inspired by the image. But it could also be an image inspired by the words. Or both inspired by something else. The point is only that they blend words and visuals to create a third thing with both. Have fun!’
Here is an example from Seth –
The horse threw off its last shoe
as it ran into the water
delighted to become a seahorse
Submissions for this section will open May 1st and we will take up to seven examples per issue. Please send your poems and photographs (they must be your property – do not use other people’s work without permission and re-sized to a sensible, usable size) to janeburn1971(at)gmail(dot)com. PLease put ‘Land of Pomentos’ in the subject line. Seth is really looking forward to seeing what you send!
The Fat Damsel 