July 3rd – Today the beach is full of activity. You are surrounded closely by many other sun worshipers. The mission today is to write in the form of an Abstract or Sound poem about this day at the beach.
An Abstract or Sound poem plays with analogy, sound, and/or cadence to create meaning, rather than actually relying on the strict meanings of words themselves. Often the sounds of the words themselves lend credence to the form.
KEEPING UP WITH THE WAVES
POETIC BLOOMINGS 
Responses
BOMBASTIC BEACH
SCREECH, SCREECH, SCREECH,
the sea birds celebrate
waiting their tern to swoop and soar.
Amidst the ROAR of the water’s CRASH,
LOUDLY ROLLING, extolling a bright
Summer’s day. Symphonic and euphonious,
raucous and cacophonous. Children at play
SCREAM and YELL above the swell.
Gull CAWING and CALLING, MAULING
dead fish in the sand. They stand
near the overturned row boat.
Lifeguard SHOUTING instruction;
a sand castle’s DESTRUCTION;
the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP
of a older boy BEATING his chest
doing his best to antagonize
a younger brother in tears.
“KING KONG LIVES!” he YELLS
“AAAARRRGGGHHHH!”
Steam ship WHISTLES in the distance
a DRONE in insistence. MUFFLED
MEGAPHONE VOICES, Winds WHIPPING
waves in a FRENZY; the RUSTLING of umbrellas
FLAPPING while you’re napping.
“HONEY ROLL OVER, YOU’RE GOING TO BURN!”
You yearn for these times that remind you
that it’s more than the sights that entice,
the sounds are as appreciated,
a summer’s day elongated, loudly
anticipated, this day at the beach!
Everything works here, beginning with the title. Wonderful work.
Hear, hear! And your internal rhyme skills continue to shine!
Marie Elena
Walt, you go to the head of the class with this one!
Oh my word! Totally animated with your word choices…love this Walt!
I barely remember reading this in the early, early morning hours… though I do remember that it gave me the confidence to post what flew through me… So, thank you, Walt!! 🙂 !!
Colours of the sun, you and me – ripples, tossed like footprints run, our
lives are abstracts shimmering, nets, people, a lighthouse, a bay, at peace – oh the insanity of this peace
“Oh the insanity of this peace” caught me off guard. Wonderful write, InnerDialect. Welcome to Poetic Bloomings.
Marie Elena
Heya, thank you. Peacies back. Glad you liked it, what a nice idea for a post, really, all the best
“ripples, tossed like footprints run”
This and and the rest…you have a unique way of wording-fresh…I enjoyed your response!
:)))) oh you just went made my day..
:)!! And THAT makes MY day!! Cheers to poetry fun!
:))))))))))yayyyy
Love this!!
Hennetta Choplin – am thinking – what a brilliant post that was in the first place – grateful it could get me inspired, thank you for saying….
Yes… I feel the same way about the prompts, and we are blessed to be brought together in this special, creative work 🙂 !!
Yep:)
Reblogged this on LYRIX & LIFE.
[…] Written for Poetic Bloomings “Life is a Beach” – Day 3: A Day At The Beach (An Abstract Poem). […]
EBB AND FLOW
SHOOOSH-
shaaaaw
SHOOOSH-shaaaaw
ee-AWK-AWK
ee-AWK…ee-AWK-AWK…
summertime sounds crescendoing;
waves washing ashore, seagulls are calling us to come.
Morning turns to noon, then to night.
ee-AWK…ee-AWK-AWK…
ee-AWK-AWK.
SHOOOSH-shaaaw
SHOOOSH-
shaaaw.
2013-07-03
P. Wanken
This reminds me that some birds are named for the sounds they make. The funny thing for me is, as a deaf person, I don’t hear those sounds but the movements of the waves and the birds suggest them anyway.
Ever-present those gulls! This one was fun, Paula! Great job embracing the sound part of this prompt! 🙂
Yep, for sure!
Marie Elena
This takes me back to Corpus Christi, Texas… :)!!
Paula, I can close my eyes and smell the saltiness.
Loud Colors in White Noise
Like the hiss and sigh of white noise,
the waves thump, rush, and dissolve
against the shore, endlessly
monotonously similar, unbroken
and constant, a crazy inner ear
hazy sound like a plane miles
above the sea, buzzing like a gnat,
leaving a trail exhaling into the sky.
Beach sound is composed
of shades of blue–sky, sea,
afternoon shadows,
of white, cream, grey,
and blinding sunlight,
of the bright prime colors
of umbrellas and beach chairs,
sand buckets and shovels, kites,
coolers and towels, hats, floats,
swimsuits, each tint shouting
across the crash and hiss, See Me!
Play resounds across the waves,
into the shallows where crabs scuttle,
along the foamy edges of waves
where gulls and sea birds scavenge,
along the horizon where pelicans glide
in a perfect graceful V, dragging
a brazen sunset along behind them
like a purple, rose, and orange curtain,
all the universe shrieking in loud
cacophonous deafening hues.
I especially love your last stanza, Jane!!
I am fascinated by this, the sounds of color. Wonderful.
Stunning, creative … an absolute WOW.
Marie Elena
I must second this “Marie-Wow,” Jane…a stunner for sure!!!
Love love love this one too
Thank you all so much.
The Sounds of a Sandy Summer
Splish splash
The waves slap sandy beach
Splish splash
The sound of running feet
Splish-splash
As wet sand buckets fall
Splish splash
The kids build castles tall
“Look Mommy!”
The castle tall with sand
“Look Mommy!”
Shaped funny with little hands
“Look Mommy!”
Dad buried up to his face
“Look Mommy!”
The kids just love this place
“Turn over!”
Let me lotion your back
“Turn over!”
The lotion’s not in the pack
“Turn over!”
I guess we’ll never learn
“Turn over!”
He’s sleeping, let him burn
“What’s that?”
It’s moving in the sand
“What’s that?”
Don’t touch it with your hand
“What’s that?”
Looks like a little head
“What’s that?”
Is it alive or dead
Splish splash
The beach is so much fun
“Look Mommy!”
We got our castle done
“Turn over!”
You’ve gotten too much sun
“What’s that?”
Pack up, it’s time to run
© 2013 Earl Parsons
!! 🙂
Indeed.
Ditto indeed. 😉
Marie Elena
oh deep happy sigh 🙂
A Fun One
Sand and sun
Surf and fun
Walk don’t run
Watch the nuns
Nuns have fun
In the sun
They don’t run
They eat buns
Son of a gun
Now we’re done
© 2013 Earl Parsons
This can be habit forming.
😀 !!!
Marie Elena
HA!! Too. Much. FUN!!
… and I’d venture a guess that Nun will compare. 😉
Marie Elena
ABSTRACT
[RONDELET form – AbAabbA 4848884]
With one ember
is ignited a burning fire.
With one ember,
flames spark long to be remembered,
dreams of which one cannot tire,
dreams to which one can’t aspire,
with one ember.
How true…
Beautiful, Marjory!
How beautifully penned, Marjory.
Marie Elena
Thank you very much My Lady friends. 🙂
A-muse-ment
Bright, red umbrella
Unfolding there
Throwing a shadow
into the air
Who sits behind it?
I stop and stare
But he eludes me
without a care.
Stark imagery and emotion here, Hen…great work!
Thank you, my friend, my muse is very elusive… :)!!
I think what I meant is the contrast…I like the bright of the umbrella and the distinct emotion…well done!!
Ahh… I like that… thank you, my friend!!
For sure!! 🙂
Awww! Poor Hen! (But still a fun read!)
meg
!! :D, thanks, Meg!!
” throwing a shadow into air ” … like casting cares away, like random beasties, into the Light…. wanta say, ‘ hugs, such words on this Blog. Awesome.
Thanks, “Inn..”, you know, I spent quite a bit of time yesterday agonizing over whether I should rewrite this to say “casting a shadow”, but in the end I decided that since I was half-asleep when I wrote it, my “inner guide” had written it just the way it should have been written… 🙂 !! Thanks, so much for your input, I do so appreciate it!! 🙂
Ur Inner guide is pretty sharp yknow 🙂
I hope I’ve got the meter right this time! 🙂
Beach Noise (Shakesperean Soonet)
The brightly colored towels spread are noise
Enough all on their own, without the help,
The added squeals, of little children, boys
And girls, their laughter and their joyful yelps;
The rainbow hues of chairs and tents are loud
Themselves, though helped along with merry cries
And barking dogs and whistles from the crowd
That throngs the golden beach beneath blue skies;
The crash of waves upon the shore adds beat,
A rhythmic background for the noise and fun,
And stamp, stamp, stamp go little toes and feet
Upon the sand, still burning in the sun;
But I’ll return again at dawn to see
The beach at peace once more: serenity.
© Copyright Erin Kay Hope – 2013
The thump of the meter works well with the words here, in my opinion. I like this.
Thank you, William! I appreciate it. 🙂
Me too!
I am so Loving all of the “sounds of color”!!
Thanks, Hen! In my opinion, colors have definite sound: some muted, some bold… I’m glad you liked this! ❤
Oh, I soo agree :)!!
ohhhhh, you did it! perfect iambic pentameter!! such a smart girl!
YAY!!! Thanks, Jackie! This took me forever – I wrote and rewrote and rewrote and rewrote. I still wasn’t sure of that last stanza when I posted, but it was so late and I was so tired that I posted anyway. 😉 Im so glad I finally got it… 😀
Yes … a quick study for sure. “Towels” threw me on first read, as I tend to pronounce it as a single syllable. 😉
Great work, Erin!
Marie Elena
Thank you, Marie! Yes, some words are hard to read just right in this meter, I think. I always find myself stumbling over words when I read Shakespeare’s Sonnets. 😉
Love the contrast of the noise to silence in those last lines, Erin! Excellent!
Thank you, Hannah! 🙂
:)!! You’re welcome!
ZEPHYRS
As winds are whispering their wishes
among the grasses near the shore,
in swirling swaths of random swishes,
as winds are whispering their wishes,
the sanderlings will school, like fishes,
in time to tunes they can’t ignore
as winds are whispering their wishes
among the grasses, near the shore.
copyright 2013, William Preston
A few of my Favorite things… 🙂 !!
Repetition and alliteration are excellently employed in this, William, nice work!!
Many thanks to you both. The triolet form demands some of the repetition, but I was also trying for some sounds suggesting light winds in beach grass.
works well…thank you for the reminder…I need to jaunt with triolet again. fun!
Oh what fun to read out loud!
Marie Elena
I love this, William.
This is a complete experiment for me -could be a total fail, IDK, but nothing ventured…
Sun Stroked Thoughts
The sand under my feet scrrrr
itches in places I can’t reach
the fish shaped kite flllllll
uttering in the sky over
the waves SWWWoooSHing
to shore sure as night follows
daydreams carry me across the sea
sons, winter, fall, summer, spring
forth. My sleepy thoughts drift
wood on the beach bleached white
by a hot Tropic of Cancer
causing sun.
Debi, this totally works and makes for a fun read. You were far more brave than I at this “abstract” stuff. 😉
Marie Elena
Thank you Marie.
lines 6 and 7 should be:
to shore sure as night follows day
dreams carry me across the sea
I think this worked, and it looks like you had fun writing it. The line breaks are a delight
I did, William. I think, sometimes, I take poetry too seriously, at least the making of it.
Oh, I agree!
I agree with William…especially love this break, “My sleepy thoughts drift/wood on the beach bleached white” brilliant!
Thanks, Hannah
You’re welcome, Debi!
[…] LIFE IS A BEACH – […]
Hmm…I was quick to post…I made some adjustments to this…minor but it fixes a flow issue and adds an element to the florescent section….ooo just realized I have the wrong word posted for that too…ha! Messy-Bessie over here. 😉
I can so relate to that, Messy-Bessie. I click then think.
Yup…oh well we’re a forgiving imaginative bunch!! 🙂
Yes… True friends :)!!
:)!! Indeed.
Day at the Beach
~
As kernels they started,
the bourgeoning of the beach again…
started deep within these grains of sand,
planted by memories,
toes and elbows immersed
in the deliciousness of this place,
backs and bellies soaking up the heat,
eyes meet and memorize the gaze of blues;
these are seeds that are held the year long,
watered by salted sea,
warmed by the new summer sun
and they’ve begun blooming.
In pairs of fluorescence,
pink, orange and green,
a solitary tiger-striped beauty
saunters on the shore,
fits of floral arrive by the dozens,
a silken-black-speedo rose
rises up among them,
striped, plaid and polka-dotted daisies
speckle the pebble infested strip.
Yes, their reminisces have brought them back richly,
hordes of bodies burst forth from the earth.
Striding, lying and swimming,
jumping, gawking and talking,
lolling, bronzing and sporting-
vivid beings create a garden of peoples.
Colorful in their laughter,
authentic in their love,
ready in their receiving,
sun and beauty beholding-
they’re bold in their belonging
and comfort’s found,
relief from the regular-regular
it’s an estuary-orchard of living beings,
it’s a day at the beach.
~
Copyright © Hannah Gosselin 2013
Oh! This is exquisitely detailed… I Love it!!
Thank you, Hen!! :)!
!! 🙂
You’ve managed to take a riot and cacophony and make them sing. Love that construct, “estuary-orchard.”
So cool, William!! You picked out the last part that I pieced in…an after the fact thought! Thank you!
Hannah, don’t you think that so often happens? It is what we ‘pitched in at the last moment’ that rings true because we have not had time to messie bessie it? lol
SO true!!! Thank you Jackie… 🙂
I love how William expresses my thoughts. 😉
Wonderful, Hannah!
Marie Elena
Sharks chomp wounded
Rays sting innocents
Funded folks behead us?
Hmmmm…. sharp needle here.
Yes. Wow.
Marie Elena
Eyes Closed at the Beach.
Crash, pound, crash
running, giiggles, splash
Hot sand ouch ouch, ouch
Warm lazy sun
Ahhhhhh
“…warm lazy sun…” soothes me… 🙂 !!
Perfect!! 😀 !
Marie Elena
Beach Rhythms (An Abstract Poem)
Anyone gathers at a bang, bang beach
lapping, lapping, lapping
cold grease slides
in and out, in and out
coconut clouds dance through noses
spitting brine through smiles
serving of leather
lapping, lapping, lapping
ooo eee, ooo ah ah dancing feet
in and out, in and out
talking dogs
spitting brine through smiles
rhythms…bang, bang beach.
:D!!
This has a calliope feel to it. Much fun to read.
Fun stuff!
Marie Elena
Very cool, Michelle!
Life is a Beach and Deadly Quiet
Namibia Dunes now cast a silent sigh;
Egyptian symbols lie upon this beach,
and looking back, I see the King’s own eye;
part man; part beast but what has he to teach?
Sahara heat beyond the Burger King
with Pyramids tri-angled to the sun.
Mysterious is life; a spacious thing
and love’s a whispered dream before begun.
My footprints leave no sound upon this sand
yet, I’ll be known by others in this space.
And grateful, water has a healing hand
along the Nile to soothe as any place.
But gone is past or future in its glow;
A mutter in the moonlight’s all we know.
(They say Tourists can now take pics of the Sphinx and Burger King in one shot! How yucky is that? I think my poem succumbed to quiet sadness for that reason.)
“Na Mib ya” is pronunciation for the Dunes, first line)
“mutter in the moonlight” What a good phrase!
I feel your sadness…
“My footprints leave no sound upon this sand” speaks loudly.
Great work, Jacqueline!
Marie Elena
TRANSFERENCE
Drifting,
lifting,
shifting,
gifting
as waves are drifting and lifting sand
to form a shifting, yet gifting land.
copyright 2013, William Preston
Oh, I like this!
Nice! 🙂
Marie Elena
Well, mine isn’t really abstract, but …
CROWDED BEACH
So close,
Our towels touch.
So warm,
Our heat mingles.
So smitten,
I fear he hears
The pounding of my heart.
That’s pretty concrete, and sensual. Very clear images and feelings here. Brings back nice memories, too.
Thank you William. Very kind.
Obviously, abstract is not how my brain works. I love it when it is done well, but I sure can’t come up with it on my own, except on rare occasion.
Marie Elena
I can relate. My abstracts tend to cause abstraction, sort of like a double negative: everything cancels out.
This is so romantic, Marie. Love it!
That made me feel about 16 – wonderful!
😀 ! Thanks Debi! That’s a great compliment!
Marie Elena
Wonderful, I agree!!
[…] Still Blooming on the beach. Come […]
Singing the Blues
It’s the whisper as waves
hum their indigo praise
and cobalt their way
to shore.
It’s the shhhh of the breeze
and the tangle of trees
as a sapphire sky beckons
for more.
It’s the whir of my heart
and the whoosh between scars
of waters that hold it
in tune.
It’s the searching of sea
and the finding of me
as a crooning cloud wrangles
the moon.
.
Oh, De … you’ve done it again. Absolute PERFECTION. If I could have your muse for only a day ….
Marie
This should be set to music. Utterly lovely.
Cool!
This. is. Beautiful!!!
Oh, I feel like I’m dancing a waltz, De.
Beautiful sounds and images. I love your poetry.
Wind Swept Tunes
By David De Jong
We scampered over the drifting dunes
Oblivious to the wind swept tunes
Kites whipping the sky, blueberry cream
Sizzle and frizzle, a sunburn scream
Feathered gulls, weathered lulls, tons of sun
Towels and trowels, buckets of fun
Volley ball, beach ball, all asked to dance
Crazy, lazy, taste all the romance
Chasing, embracing, placing a kiss
Walking and talking, gawking at bliss
Fixtures, pictures, salty windshield smear
Rewound, replayed, in a shell to my ear
This is another that should be set to music, in my opinion. The imagery is superb.
I love the image of you holding the seashell up to your ear
Oh, that last line!!! :)!!
Sand Sharks
Toddler totters down to ocean,
flinging sand with his feet.
“No swimming, you just ate.”
Boom-boom-ba, boom-boom-ba (bold)
“Turn down that radio.” Squirt,
plop. “Oh, you used too much
lotion. Ding, ding, ding! (bold)
“Ice cream here, get your ice
cold ice cream. Splash, giggles,
feet running away. Woman in
two-piece bathing suit, skin
hot and dry. “You little brats,”
she yells, water dripping
down her back.
Bold doesn’t copy. Sorry.
Love this. Presumably, that woman offered some purple prose in Portland.
Love your comment, William!
Ha, ha, ha… I can just Hear this one :D!!
Thanks, Hen!
Did I know anything, anything at all, of meter,
of rhythm, of birds at fall, of the spring in these feet, and
yours as we rhyme to the streets in this LIfe, a Beach
yours and mine, every one of each a random kind of song, and I
am no poet, nor student of metronome, except the throat
of the sea gull, the slap of that wave, at the bottom
of my soul, oh my soul gambols at this beach where poets and
words swim against an equal tide of the earth, oh an earth an earth
blooming like blossoms, like this like this…
Oh, your poem carried me right along… !!
Hey you wonderful wonderful human, am thrilled to have stumbled on this piece of awe-beach 🙂
[…] the time being, it’s my entry for the Poetic Blossoms challenge to write an abstract or sound poem. Let’s hope I didn’t embarrass myself, […]
Well done… I enjoyed reading this, thank you!
DID YOU HEAR
Most think
the messages
come from deep
within the conch
and will hold
the lovely shell
tight against
their ear,
swear they
hear the sea
swear they
hear the roar
of waves and surf
in there.
But to really
hear the earth
and all sorts
of other messages
you must lie
upon the sand
alone
In the dark
or in the light
matters not,
just as long
as you are there
alone.
Now, lay down
on the beach
slow your
breathing
close your eyes
listen for
your heartbeat
Listen to the sea
Match the one
to the other…
Soon you will
hear whispering
from a place
you’ve never
heard before
and there
will be
secrets unfolding
that make
you wonder
why you never
thought to stop
and listen
closely
like this
just like this
’til now…
Lovely, Sharon.
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[…] Bloomings “Abstract Poem” Poem form: Abstract and Poetic Bloomings “Deserted […]
A Long and Salty Beach
Whistle wind
through rugged rocks
scour sand
smooth as glass
and kiss this salty beach.
Yes, I am WAY behind–however, I’m catching up…
Sanderlings
Blue, blue, blue
beat, beat, beat
scurry, scurry, scurry
Of tiny, tiny feet
Moving in and out and out and in
And in and out again
Like a winged accordion
Playing tidal rhythm
Beat, beat, beat
With their tiny, tiny feet
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