This blog is for all who desire to create with words and images.
You are encouraged to participate in any way that is meaningful to you.

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All prompts beneath the photos are only suggestions.
You are free to use the photo to be inspired to write any way you desire.
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There is no deadline on posting,
you may offer your writing to any prompt anytime.
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Write and you are a writer.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Same

Photo by Dan Felstead
Wood and Pixels Narratives - http://www.woodandpixels.blogspot.com/
ETSY Shop: Wood andPixels - http://www.woodandpixels.etsy.com/
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Suggested Prompt...
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What makes us the same?
What brings us together?
What are the universals or simply a universal?
Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry...
share with us your thoughts in your own way.


_____________________

Humanity

The news tells us of a death
Of someone, we never knew.
Cold, clinical, matter of fact;
Reported and over in a moment or two.

But that person, quickly dismissed,
Will have had a mother and father,
Maybe a sister or perhaps a brother
Friends, neighours, a significant other.
Colleagues, storekeepers and so on
All increase the living sphere
Of people who knew this news item
In a way that’s deeply, painfully, dear.

We’re all statistics and yet we’re not;
We’re people, we’re family, we’re all together;
We’re beings that laugh and cry and bleed;
We’re more than a short news item before the weather.

~ J Cosmo Newbery


One week after the photo or picture is posted I will pick one offering to put beneath the image. This is a way of celebrating exceptional creativity. Any and all posts are available for your creative mind to make an offering at any time (even ones where a writing has been placed on the front page like this one). If you are new here and want to offer to every image here, feel free. We are writers, WRITE!

If this is your exceptional writing posted here on the Front Page Pictures, Poetry & Prose invites you to include the Exceptional Writing Award Button on your blog. Visit the Exceptional Writing Award post for the details and the button to download.

15 comments:

Inkpot said...

Gloria was so excited the first time she went abroad. She couldn't wait to see the new exotic people and places. At the airport she was intimidated by the police in their strange uniforms, their faces cold as they stalked the luggage reclaim with their german shepherds. The people around her spoke ina different language, their words bubbling fast out of their mouths and sliding meanless across Gloria's ears. The signs to the exit looked the same as the ones at home, but the letters were all jumbled up. Gloria felt alienated. While she waited for her bags she heard a child crying. She looked at the family standing next to her. Their skin colour was different to her own and they spoke strangely. The mother was trying to comfort her child, her face creased with worry. Gloria wondered what had upset the child. Then she saw the doll lying on the floor. She left her place by the conveyor belt and picked it up. The child's tears turned to smiles as Gloria handed her the toy. Gloria didn't need to understand the woman's words of thanks. Their differences melted away in the universal language of a smile.

Heather said...

I look at this photograph and see artistry, design, feeling; and then I notice that it says Coca Cola below it.

Here, I sit thinking about the designers of this piece; who are one in their ability to create. Maybe that's a profound piece of all human similarity; the desire to create.

I was actually thinking about that this morning. My thoughts dove into each human; how every single being is made with a desire to create something. Many of us place ourselves in a comparison box, causing our downfall of ability to be creative. We can't "measure up" to the artistry that we admire so. But...we can. We're all uniquely and wonderfully made; with an ability to create.

Creation, in all forms, has no limitation. It allows the eyes of one another to open into a truth, a meaning, a feeling; like a surprise gift. Some write, some draw or paint, some share photo's of special detail, others create with numbers, with design; creation in many forms is designed with the heart. All have an ability; not all find it.

Another profound word that enables us to be one, in all of our human ability is to feel. We all feel with the heart. We can love, hate, fear, be courageous, desire, hope and dream.

~Nothing more than thoughts today, my friends. Enjoy the creative side of you today :o).

Dan Felstead said...

Heather,

I totally agree. I can't write poetry...when I do it reads like a recipe for bean soup! But I sure love to read it and admire the creativity that one has to write it. The diverse gifts of everyone on this blog are indeed gifts to each of us individually...Thanks for all the offerings, it helps make me feel more complete.

Dan

SSQuo said...

This is Coca Cola written in Hindi (a language from India)and it looks like its an image that is often seen in small places/villages where the brand name is painted on the side walls.Dont miss the 'Trade mark reserved' right below the phrase. Oh I love this picture!

It is fascinating to travel to remote places and notice how some of these big names have such strong meaning to local audiences. Its a bond and common ground.

This picture reminds me of a riddle we used to recite as kids -

Half circle

Full circle

Half circle A

Half Circle

Full Circle

Right Angle A!

What is it? :)

Killerwit said...

I've been to India and it gets very hot there at certain times of the year. A Coke might help, but, really, the natives drink scalding hot tea to cool off. I know that seems counterintuitive, but it's true. They throw masala, unpasteurized water buffalo milk, and sugar into a single kettle and boil the whole mess. It cooks down to be a thick, sweet brew that is sipped out of tiny cups. No matter where you are in the upper Pradeshes, one can find this customary beverage.

I drank it often while in India and, though I can't say it cooled me off, it was delicious. I drank it in Varanasi before I walked down the ghat steps to the Ganges and scattered my father's ashes.

I will always remember how that tea stuck to my throat, how it sat in my belly and radiated, and how complete strangers happily sat down with me and drank scalding tea in one hundred degree weather.

Sacha van Straten said...

Hello all,

@inkpot: 'the universal language of a smile.' What a gorgeous phrase.

@Killerwit. I think you're referring to Chai. I taught at a school in London where most of the kids came from the Asian sub-continent. So, there was a lot of chai, in all its forms, knocking around. Yum!

To Dan - thanks again for a wonderful photo. Your blog is amazing!

To Heather - thanks for the wise words. Speaking of comparison boxes the challenge for today's One Minute Writer was to write about online friends you have never met. With that in mind I wrote about Dan, Laura Jayne and Don in a poem. I hope you all won't mind but I'm going to print it below, as a gesture of thanks. I'm including the web link to the main OMW page, so that anyone else who wants to can take part. I think that's how the etiquette works in such matters. And I could say it's a poem celebrating the fact we're not all the same!

Dan lives
In a 19th state of mind.
Perhaps he is a Hoosier?
He captures life through lenses,
He is a magician of light,
A conjuror of the ether.
He writes me often and we
Talk only in words that never are spoken.

Don makes dreams
Out of every day chores.
He lifts up the needy,
Gives children hope in the face of calamity.
He is a man of faith, a man of God,
A man of conviction.
He philosophizes on the small stuff
So he can understand the bigger picture.
His words can seem like riddles
Which can only mean
I'm not thinking hard enough.

Laura Jayne transforms
My thoughts into actions,
My ideas into verse.
If the gods of ancient Greece
Were alive today
In the minds of men,
She'd be one of their virtual muses.
Her online presence
Is a temple to the arts,
Where good minds meet
To make the remarkable happen.

The web link is here: http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/2008/12/todays-writing-prompt-online.html


All the best,

Sacha

Beth Camp said...

Thank you for visiting my site. I hope you do take up your quilt again. Your love of photography and writing shows sensitivity to art; quilting is just another medium to expressing your self, though it can be more traditional. So I think the quilting brings people and generations together.

Laura Jayne said...

Sacha,

I so moved by your wonderful words. When the idea for this came to me I just wanted a wonderful place where people could come to gether and create. Wanted to share my love of words and the beauty that is writing and creating beautiful images.

That I have met some of the most wonderful people is incredible. That you would honor me like this... again, I am touched and so wonderfully happy with this gift of your words.

Thank you,
Laura Jayne

Dan Felstead said...

WOW! Thanks Sacha!! I have never been the subject of a poem before! Thank you very much. Your skills with words amaze me especially with poetry....(something I am horrible at!). I am sure all three of us are scrambling to select and copy so we can paste it into Word for backup. This online community that Laura Jane has invited us into is incredible.
Thank you,
Dan

Anonymous said...

@inkpot - "universal language of a smile" - great line!
@simply heather - I am feeling quite dwarfed by the creativity shown here...
@Sacha - beautiful!
@Dan - great photo!


While I was at the university, I did a study abroad program. It made sense, I majored in German, so I went to Germany.
While abroad, I went to France and Switzerland, and Lichtenstein, and the people I met laughed at the same photos, showed compassion for those in need, and just wanted to be understood for who they were.

It seems to me that we are all the same in that we crave relationships with others who understand us, they don't have to always agree with us, but to know someone well validates both you and that someone.

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Humanity

The news tells us of a death
Of someone, we never knew.
Cold, clinical, matter of fact;
Reported and over in a moment or two.

But that person, quickly dismissed,
Will have had a mother and father,
Maybe a sister or perhaps a brother
Friends, neighours, a significant other.
Colleagues, storekeepers and so on
All increase the living sphere
Of people who knew this news item
In a way that’s deeply, painfully, dear.

We’re all statistics and yet we’re not;
We’re people, we’re family, we’re all together;
We’re beings that laugh and cry and bleed;
We’re more than a short news item before the weather.

Heather said...

@Jen, thank you for your kind words, your wisdom and your experience shared with all of us :o)...

Jessica said...

We are all different
But alike as well
Race, Gender, Sexuality
They all fall away

We all feel the same
Our hearts love
Or hearts break
We all heal

We all laugh
We all smile
We all cry
And we all fear

We are the same
Deep in our souls
We all are one
Connected by the divine

(This is my first actual try at poetry. Be kind. Haha.)

TesoriTrovati said...

Why do we try to focus on differences? There is so much that makes us the same. No matter where we live, nor how, we each are in pursuit of whatever it is that makes us happy. We each want our children to grow up safe and secure and with access to an education. We each have friends and family who make us grow stronger each day. We may be separated by geography, or race, or religion, but really, what are those things? While a mountain or an ocean may separate us physically, that doesn't mean that we aren't gazing at the same moon. While the color of our skin may make us look different, the world would be an incredibly dreary place if we were all the same. While our faith may manifest in fasting or supplication or rituals, we are all one in a universal way of seeking a higher power, whatever that may be for you or me.
I am a one-time member of a group of volunteers and we recited a poem at the beginning of each meetig called The Collect(CALLekt)for Clubwomen. One stanza really resonated with me....
"Grant that we may realize it is
The little things that create differences,
That in the big things of life we are at one."
I strive to remember that in my daily life because if nothing else, we are one.

Erin
http://treasures-found.blogspot.com

Makita Jazzqueen said...

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.'
'What a stupid lamb.'
'What a sick, masochistic lion.'" ('Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer)

The differences, if we want to, can be easily turned to not-so-different.