Saturday, March 9, 2013

Words with Mad Hops

Me (17 yrs old)

Words with Mad Hops

Back then,
though not big,
I could run
and jump
over a chair
to dunk a ball,
while girls in pink
screamed loud,
barely able to watch
what happened there.

~in my dreams~

Over at dVerse Poets, Brian Miller and Gretchen Leary are hosting Poetics. One of the prompts was to use two, three verbs, three adjectives, and two random words provided by another person. The only person I had to appeal to for possible words was my 10-year old daughter. The words she gave me to use: chair, ball, run, jump, watch, big, pink, loud, there, and then. The first song that came to mind as writing began was Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days," and its recalling, with lament, of deeds of our youth. Desiring brevity, each word is used once as the last word.

©Eusebeia Philos 2013

Posted by at

23 comments:

  1. MaryMarch 9, 2013 at 6:11 PM

    Wow, the picture is amazing. You definitely CAN jump! Sometimes size is inconsequential to talent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 9, 2013 at 6:46 PM

      Hey, Mary...I had so many dreams where I'd go up, up, up and dunk the ball that I had to capture my dream in a photo just once...1974, best bud and a camera, you can make anything happen.

      Delete
  2. Brian MillerMarch 9, 2013 at 6:13 PM

    haha...awesome...my cousin and i built a launch ramp in his backyard so we could fly off of it and dunk...those were awesome times...ha...thanks for bringing back that memory...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 9, 2013 at 6:33 PM

      My buddy and I preferred those old wooden crates for delivery and return of pop bottles. No Photoshop back then, but a crate placed on its side just outside the camera's view gave those extra inches needed to fly like Dr. J.

      Delete
  3. kelvin s.m.March 9, 2013 at 6:14 PM

    ..aww... and nah, you really can jump that high? nah, i envy... haha... wish i could be as sporty as that but heart's quite too weak to handle big games... chess is way preferable for me... & i learned to love it... cool write & pic... smiles..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 9, 2013 at 6:42 PM

      Hah, yeah Kelvin, had some legs back then, still had to use a little cheat with the old Kodak on that photo. Chess is cool. I like it but don't play often enough.

      Delete
  4. ScarletMarch 9, 2013 at 6:46 PM

    That is quite a high one ~ I like the terse lines, with the word prompt ending each time ~

    Happy weekend ~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 10, 2013 at 9:14 AM

      Thank you, Grace...just a fun little word romp...so cool to see my daughter's smile with her contribution.

      Delete
  5. UnknownMarch 9, 2013 at 7:36 PM

    Awesome job! I could see it all vividly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 10, 2013 at 9:08 AM

      Thanks, Gretchen. Great job hosting at dVerse tonight, too.

      Delete
  6. HeidiMarch 10, 2013 at 3:12 AM

    I like the words that you daughter gave you and how you used the to determine your form. Plus, there's a touching and funny story in the poem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 10, 2013 at 9:06 AM

      Thanks, Heidi. As soon as she gave them to me I wrote the first image that jumped into my head. I know it was a leap, but...

      Delete
  7. Sabio LantzMarch 10, 2013 at 7:31 AM

    Damn, what a jump. Can your daughter jump like that now? Does her Papa share pictures and stories causing her to wonder, "Really, Daddy?"

    In those days, the girls wore pink and screamed, but today, they wear black and only laugh -- at our foolishness.

    Good morning

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 10, 2013 at 9:02 AM

      Hah, Sabio. Oh yeah, she laughs right along with me (at me). But, cannot the stories become better in the retelling as we get older? Especially when Springsteen's "Glory Days" is playing in the background?

      Good morning.

      Delete
    2. Sabio LantzMarch 10, 2013 at 9:32 AM

      Absolutely == they grow with fantastichoodness! Well, at least for those of us blessed with disproportionate self-love. :-) (my stories, are now mythological!)

      Delete
  8. henry clemmonsMarch 10, 2013 at 10:27 AM

    I like the mix of dream or real, the conflict in memory as we see us now and back in time at same second. Very kool. And way to throw that dunk down!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 10, 2013 at 10:35 AM

      Yeah, Henry, lots of fun dreaming, reinterpreting past events, embellishing...

      Delete
  9. brudbergMarch 10, 2013 at 11:15 AM

    Very nice cadence in this poetry and the mix of lament of your youth and dreams is very good.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ClaudiaMarch 10, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    goodness...looks like you're flying on that pic..and so sad that the screaming girls in pink were just a dream..or maybe good that they were just in the dream..i mean...imagine how fast you have to run to escape a bunch of screaming, pink girls...smiles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayGMarch 10, 2013 at 1:43 PM

      At that age I might not have run to escape screaming girls in pink. Another dream. *grin*

      Delete
  11. Kathy ReedMarch 11, 2013 at 2:20 AM

    I think it's great your daughter gave you words that you could turn into an excellent poem of your youth and get 'pink' in there easily ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Optimistic ExistentialistMarch 11, 2013 at 10:32 AM

    You had a heck of a vertical jump!!!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)