Writing prompt for Issue 15.1

tracks

It’s another new year and with it another writing prompt from your friends here at tinywords. This photo is courtesy of writer, blogger, photographer Dave Bonta. We invite you to submit your poems in the comment section below. We look forward to reading what you come up with. The best of the best will kick off our new tinywords issue 15.1 due out in early February.

Happy New Year one and all.

About the photographer:

Dave Bonta lives in the woods of central Pennsylvania, where he posts brief daily updates about what he sees in his yard at The Morning Porch, maintains the poetry-film website Moving Poems, and blogs poetry at Via Negativa.

 

217 Responses

  1. Sylvia Forges-Ryan Says:

    Who will go first
    on the path
    of newly fallen snow

  2. Garry Says:

    footprints in the snow
    following power lines
    possibly lost

  3. neilblenkiron Says:

    Pure snow in winter's embrace
    Vacant footprints proof
    that others also walk on water

  4. kiwiskan Says:

    between the trees
    the cold creeps forward
    snowprints

  5. Alan Summers Says:

    .
    wind-spun flakes…
    a child’s world escapes
    the snow globe
    .

  6. Alan Summers Says:

    Laura,

    I love your own haiku, with its scent of woodsmoke, and voted for it as soon as I read it:

    season's greetings
    the scent of woodsmoke
    first to arrive

    warm regards,

    Alan

  7. Terri French Says:

    Love this one Alan!

  8. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks Terri,

    I'm delighted, especially as I love Christmas, and work very hard to make it special for families too.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  9. roberta pbeary Says:

    I like any thing that mentions snow globe but if the poem's image works, i love it. love your haiku; love it!

  10. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks Roberta,

    There is something really special about snow globes, and I'm so pleased this one works for you. Thank you! :-)

    warmest regards,

    Alan

  11. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks Laura! That's very much appreciated.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  12. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    I'm with Roberta on this one, Alan – if there's a snow globe in it, it gets my vote! :)

    I love the movement in yours. It's magical.

    marion

  13. Alan Summers Says:

    Thank you Marion, you are also a good supporter of my work! :-)

    warmest regards,

    Alan

  14. Robert Burgan Says:

    Bitter cold and slushy
    My boots can't anymore…>
    Meet you back home, brrr!

  15. Robert Burgan Says:

    Sorry, I forgot "go" in 2nd line

  16. Garry Says:

    overhead
    the hum of power lines
    the crunch of crusted snow

  17. Barbara searcy Says:

    Winter arrives
    Cold and grey…
    Alive with purpose

  18. A. Burgard Says:

    the world between
    worlds, seraphim
    trail

  19. Garry Says:

    line in the snow
    the beginning
    of a hummingbird?

  20. Ronald Grognet Says:

    despite cold feet
    I still proposed–
    merry Christmas

  21. Jo Ann Dalgard Says:

    Dead tree stands in the back yard,
    limbs long since broken and burned
    laughter of children who once scaled its heights,
    only an echo, a faded memory

  22. Paul Heinowski Says:

    shadows on the snow
    sharp
    as the frost

  23. Tricia Says:

    me barefoot forward
    his heavy boots right angles off
    this heavy snow

  24. spacedlaw Says:

    A riddle playing with the land
    Cryptic glamour game of angels touching in a dance
    Here they bow, there they kiss and fly.

  25. spacedlaw Says:

    Over glittering oceans
    So barely touched by traces of mystical beasts
    Demons just reflected on snow

  26. Wendy Rathbone Says:

    I walk through new snow
    turning right toward home
    my muse moves on

  27. Wendy Rathbone Says:

    tree shadows
    divide the snow-path
    we part ways

  28. Joy MacVane Says:

    Winter's deep sigh –
    snowflakes trickling
    down my cheeks

  29. Roberta Beary Says:

    miles to go—
    the snowy echo
    of wolf song

  30. Alan Summers Says:

    Simply magical. Amazing two line phrase with tension given with 'miles to go'.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  31. Robertabeary Says:

    Alan your comment means a lot! thanks :)

  32. kiwiskan Says:

    nice haiku Roberta – very succinct

  33. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    Ah, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. :) By alluding to Frost's poem you create an entire scene in just three words here, Roberta. Also love the sound the wolf's song.

    marion

  34. Mary Beth Says:

    Which way to journey?
    Crystal paths are no true guide —
    I follow my heart

  35. Olivier Schopfer Says:

    I follow them
    they follow me
    unknown tracks in the snow

  36. John McManus Says:

    unable to follow
    my grandfather draws
    a face in the snow

  37. Alan Summers Says:

    I find those last two lines incredibly moving.

    Alan

  38. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    So do I – brought a tear to my eye.

    marion

  39. th. vandergrau Says:

    I really like this one!

  40. ralf bröker Says:

    crack of dawn listen to snow angel past

  41. Edward Cody Huddleston Says:

    cursive tracks
    in the snow
    winter’s signature

  42. P. Scott Hamilton Says:

    I'm not perfect
    I know —
    Was it something I said?

  43. Barbara A. Taylor Says:

    night visitors
    traveling the same trail
    through silence

  44. sugbert2014 Says:

    black and white
    choices . . .
    the less traveled path

  45. Bethany Says:

    Woody plant life
    half-buried in snow–
    I keep walking

  46. Emma Pierson Says:

    snow: a magnum mysterium to me.

    Footprints in the sand I understand.

    The deep south is my home.

    I understand

  47. Bethany Says:

    Snow-covered–
    The branch tips are frozen
    in mid-reach

  48. Dave Read Says:

    snow drifts
    he colours outside
    the lines

  49. Alan Summers Says:

    Intriguing last two lines, really like them.

    Alan

  50. Dave Read Says:

    Thank you Alan. Much appreciated.

  51. Gregory Longenecker Says:

    winter solstice
    the parting
    of our ways

  52. Alan Summers Says:

    Beautiful. I never tire of reading this haiku.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  53. Gregory Longenecker Says:

    Alan, Thank you so much. That means a great deal to me. Greg

  54. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks Gregory, it's a deserved winner!

    warm regards,

    Alan

  55. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    Simply beautiful.

    marion

  56. Alan Summers Says:

    It's certainly something I never tire of reading, and I've read this perhaps two or three times every day. :-)

    warm regards,

    Alan

  57. Susan M. Botich Says:

    deep snow
    your footprints lead
    until moon turns me

  58. lkkolp Says:

    snowy junction you never could make up your mind

  59. Stevie Strang Says:

    halfway
    between here and there
    snowdrift

  60. Nola Borrell Says:

    cold shadows your brief return

  61. Polly Thurston Says:

    tracks in snow –
    a world full of
    shadows and light

  62. Lorraine Mejia Says:

    lone footprints
    on magic first snow
    the wood's silent whisper

  63. Heidi Says:

    Dappled and shadowed
    Crunched by footfalls, there, there
    White cold snow endures

  64. Bethany Says:

    New Year's Eve–
    A pair of shadows on the snow
    create a sidewalk

  65. Sue Burke Says:

    a life
    with snow's witness
    takes a turn

  66. Cyndi Lloyd Says:

    in my mentor’s snowbreak
    I follow…
    sunlight splits the shadows
    I emerge
    forge my footprints

  67. edwardbeach81 Says:

    fresh snow…

    a treasure hunt

    for everything

  68. Joanna Ashwell Says:

    which way to follow ::::::
    the snow queen
    disappears again

  69. Emma Pierson Says:

    snow: a magnum mysterium to me.

  70. polona Says:

    one for fun…

    this urge
    to leave traces…
    new snow

  71. Alan Summers Says:

    So often we want to leave traces, and new snow is so enticing.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  72. dmayr Says:

    the intersection
    of late afternoon
    shadows and you

  73. Tish Davis Says:

    a tall dead tree,
    the sun blending and feathering
    shadows in the snow

  74. anacadarin Says:

    crossroads~
    some footprints
    full of shadows

  75. Laura M Kaminski Says:

    snow-blind, too tall
    to catch the scent,
    I missed,
    right turn taken only
    by the dog

  76. Marjorie Buettner Says:

    darkness at noon . . .
    the path of light
    I did not take

  77. anacadarin Says:

    snowprints~
    full of shadows
    full of light

  78. anacadarin Says:

    changing my mind
    changing your mind~
    snowprints

  79. Luisa A. Igloria Says:

    I wanted proof

    that we stood here

    and touched in the middle

    of the wood.

  80. Olivier Schopfer Says:

    snowy path…
    the distance between
    here and there

  81. Marie Shimane Says:

    awakening
    to the silence of snow light
    to unknown paths

  82. Shrikaanth K. Murthy Says:

    Dr. Who–
    i trace my steps back
    to nowhere

  83. Alan Summers Says:

    Well, I did catch the first ever episode. :-)

    Alan

  84. cj_muchhala Says:

    sparkling silence
    disturbed by tracks
    indigo shadows

    ——————–

    double tracks converge
    one remains—
    winter mystery

  85. cj_muchhala Says:

    sparkling silence
    disturbed by tracks
    indigo shadows

  86. cj_muchhala Says:

    double tracks converge
    one remains—
    winter mystery

  87. Shrikaanth K. Murthy Says:

    your step lighter
    as you walk away from me…
    here i am still
    carrying you all the way
    but only in my heart now

  88. indu Says:

    just beautiful….

  89. Shrikaanth K. Murthy Says:

    Thanks Indu

  90. kiwiskan Says:

    love this – 'carrying you all the way'

  91. Heather Butler Says:

    shadows
    line the sparkling snow …
    I carry on alone

  92. Shrikaanth K. Murthy Says:

    twigs marking
    where we parted ways
    permafrost

  93. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    Sad last line.

    marion

  94. trish reid Says:

    tracks
    veer off
    only shadows
    touch

  95. Ken Olson Says:

    trudging
    up a mountain . . .
    hearing deer laugh

  96. Alan Bern Says:

    inside my
    self heat
    body
    real coals
    burn on
    taking
    away
    fresh hope
    turned a
    corner
    footless

  97. Claudette Russell Says:

    walking on fresh snow
    every direction
    a perfect choice

  98. Alan Summers Says:

    Yes! I'm a big snow buff, so could relate to this strongly.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  99. lkkolp Says:

    centered: three twigs
    one for each sibling
    before the scatter

  100. K. Alma Peterson Says:

    Lengths we go
    to mark our way
    the depth of shadows

  101. Claudette Russell Says:

    winter walk
    the deepening silence
    leads me

  102. Heather Butler Says:

    Claudette, I like this haiku very much. I love your phrase "the deepening silence" for this photo prompt and I love the idea of deepening silence leading one onwards. It speaks to me.

  103. Claudette Russell Says:

    Heather, thanks so much for your kind words.
    Claudette

  104. Alan Summers Says:

    Such an atmospheric last two lines.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  105. Claudette Russell Says:

    Alan, thanks so much for commenting.
    I appreciate it.
    Claudette

  106. Alan Summers Says:

    A pleasure. Have you thought of a monoku aka monostich? If so, all it needs is to lose 'me' at the end, and submit to Frogpond magazine (Haiku Society of America journal). :-)

  107. Simon Hanson Says:

    traces
    moments come and gone
    almost

  108. Joy Reed MacVane Says:

    linking my house

    to yours

    deer tracks

  109. Alan Summers Says:

    Dear Joy,

    linking my house
    to yours
    deer tracks

    I really have appreciated your haiku.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  110. Pat Tompkins Says:

    shivers down my back
    the long distance to
    bare feet in warm sand

  111. luisaigloria61 Says:

    What words you wrote
    on that sheet of paper, I
    am still trying to decipher.

  112. luisaigloria61 Says:

    Economy is equal
    parts clarity
    and obfuscation.

  113. luisaigloria61 Says:

    Isn't it easier
    to say nothing
    that the trees
    could refute?

  114. Claudette Russell Says:

    breaking new paths
    we choose to go
    our separate ways

  115. Kelly Belmonte Says:

    Nothing more to say;
    we take separate paths, me
    and my child-self.

  116. K. Alma Peterson Says:

    My feet deny their own prints
    and who can say
    I was here

  117. @MarkDanowsky Says:

    Preservation Measures

    There are no 3
    way stops with-
    out turns, heel-
    and-toe shifts
    like marches re-
    cover territory
    or wild-
    life re-traces
    tracks to mis-
    lead assailants

  118. Patti N. Says:

    snow crossing
    which was first — the footprints
    or the shadow?

  119. Garry Says:

    for the tracker
    a faint hope rising
    a full day moon before sunset

  120. Eric Burke Says:

    New Year's afternoon
    a left turn
    away from the woods

  121. amangr Says:

    Like men,
    small dogs are drawn
    to bark out challenges–
    an Ahab-race pursuing their
    white whales.

  122. sara winteridge Says:

    snowbound –
    marking the first slice
    of xmas cake

  123. Carma Says:

    when I was big
    I walked on top
    of trees

  124. L.Meadow Says:

    our years together
    how seamless were I and you
    never said goodbye

  125. Dan Slaten Says:

    Near silent morning
    Footprints pressed upon the snow
    Even ghosts leave trails

  126. mcrowin Says:

    Cartwheels in snow
    Hand Hand Foot Foot
    Spring's spinning ghosts

  127. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    white noise only echoes of our argument

  128. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    light and shadow
    praying that her scan
    will reveal good news

  129. M.Weiler Says:

    this cold blue marble of earth
    – next year will be better

  130. madhurip Says:

    shadows
    of light and despair
    my heavy tread.

  131. Jean LeBlanc Says:

    winter walk—
    against the wind and with it
    both at once

  132. Ann K. Schwader Says:

    year's end
    the tracks we made
    in snow

  133. Dru Philippou Says:

    journey home . . .
    fading footprints
    in the snow

  134. Theresa C. Says:

    deep winter —
    footfalls in snow
    return to silence

  135. Theresa C. Says:

    deep winter —
    footfalls in snow return
    to silence

  136. Chris Wenk-Harrison Says:

    concise tracks sculpted in snow crust–
    no clues of what lies below

  137. th. vandergrau Says:

    winter deepens –
    the prints of his boots
    frozen in the snow

  138. Joy Reed MacVane Says:

    tiny stars tossed
    on fresh fallen snow –
    chickadee footprints

  139. amangr Says:

    Pretty,
    although aimless,
    flashing koi dart about
    and we who stare at them pretend
    we're not.

  140. Ramesh Anand Says:

    deep shadow
    steals the foot marks …
    uneven snow

  141. Peter Newton Says:

    a change of heart
    after his long career
    winter into spring

  142. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    his bootprints
    stitching the shadows
    to the shadows

  143. L.Meadow Says:

    lose "the" in both lines just might strengthen this entry.

  144. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    Thank you! I like it!

  145. kiwiskan Says:

    agree – brilliant

  146. Jan Dobb Says:

    Beautiful imagery. I love the possibilities this opens up. To omit 'his' in the first line would add even more I think.

  147. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    Thank you for your comments!

  148. Julie Warther Says:

    my son
    follows in my footsteps
    until he doesn't

  149. Julie Warther Says:

    train up a child
    in the way he should go
    and when he is old . . .

  150. amangr Says:

    Frick's house,
    a candy box
    and he, Le Grande Bon-Bon;
    his workers thought don't get the crèmes,
    just "Nuts!"

  151. marilyn willett Says:

    week after solstice…
    there will be more dark days
    but the warmth of change is upon us

  152. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    Revised:

    his bootprints
    stitching shadows
    to shadows

  153. Lolly Says:

    I love this revised one, but I voted for both of your entries.

  154. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    Thank you for your support Lolly! Not sure if I should have put the revision in a reply under the initial poem.

  155. Jan Dobb Says:

    Beautiful imagery. I love the possibilities this opens up. To omit 'his' in first line might open up even more I think . . .? Perhaps it may then become a one-liner? It's so lovely, Barbara!

  156. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    Thank you for your kind comment Jan. Yes I think that would make sense as a one liner without the 'his'

  157. th. vandergrau Says:

    The revised version is certainly more direct

  158. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    Thank you, vandergrau. Even in haiku, it helps to cut, cut, cut!

  159. Barbara Kaufmann Says:

    winter shadows measuring stillness between blizzards

  160. David Smedley Says:

    last turn
    of the kaleidoscope-
    man friday

  161. amangr Says:

    Awestruck
    by such riches,
    sparrow contemplates–Ahh!–
    a cookie bigger than itself…
    "All mine!"

  162. tsac Says:

    doctor turning pale
    ‘I ate an apple a day for –
    turning paler still

  163. David Smedley Says:

    everything in this image
    does not exist
    today

  164. campbell Says:

    So many wonderful poems. Like an extra issue, Thanks especially to luisaigloriald,A. Burgard, kiwiskan, Julie Warther, John McManus, seaviewwarrenpoint, and Nola Borrell.

  165. Betty Shropshire Says:

    fault lines
    her shoulders straighten
    at the digs

  166. pillows Says:

    Keeep on writing, great job!

  167. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    lengthening shadows
    his footprints begin
    to fill with night

  168. Betty Shropshire Says:

    tree rings

    i count myself

    in winter again

  169. Shloka Shankar Says:

    doppelganger
    the paths i leave
    untrodden

  170. micheleharvey Says:

    snow moon…
    a chance meeting
    that comes to naught

  171. Campbell Says:

    the year’s last snow –

    so many things

    I still don’t understand

  172. Annamaria Says:

    the snow drifts
    I search for more twigs
    a canoe to build.

  173. Terri French Says:

    snow drifts
    I meet myself
    coming and going

  174. Terri French Says:

    December romance —
    our whole lives waiting
    for crossing paths

  175. Terri French Says:

    hard winter
    the snow angel's
    frozen wings

  176. dl mattila Says:

    two
    trails
    one story

  177. naga_tshungma Says:

    chop, chop, chop
    fingers fly
    blood red snow

  178. Jennifer Sutherland Says:

    lost in the woods
    finding my footprints
    in the snow

  179. julietwilson Says:

    fresh snow –
    our tracks fade
    to shadow

  180. dl mattila Says:

    two bylines
    one story

  181. coastcard Says:

    silence returns
    ice-blue haze
    shadows

  182. Jari Thymian Says:

    in pristine snow
    the childhood game
    of fox and geese–
    how quickly we learn
    both hunter and hunted

  183. Dick Jones Says:

    Clocks running backwards.
    Moon and stars swallow the sun.
    Words falling like leaves

  184. Dick Jones Says:

    A fingernail moon
    in a deep blue evening sky.
    Night is the gateway.

  185. Dick Jones Says:

    Though my bones bind me
    in the years, still I shall rise.
    Time’s an illusion.

  186. Dick Jones Says:

    Look, two stars appear
    shining brighter than the rest.
    You and I, sky high.

  187. Betty Shropshire Says:

    Oort Cloud…
    spinning off the other
    snowballs

  188. kjmunro Says:

    our paths cross
    where there is no path
    winter solitude

  189. Andy Sewina Says:

    Snow blinded
    he walks in circles
    silently

  190. Miriam Sagan Says:

    funeral done,
    settling down–
    new footprints in snow

  191. Campbell Says:

    last snowfall –
    so many things
    I still don’t understand

    (edit of #133)

  192. amangr Says:

    Fickle
    wind pins balloon
    against a building's wall–
    trapped 'til wind sends it again
    flying.

    "Laughter of the Gods."

  193. Betty Shropshire Says:

    rutting moon-
    she poaches
    all the eggs

  194. kizi 2 gaming Says:

    it is very interesting, all seasons are for us the feeling hard to describe and even winter too.

  195. William Merk Says:

    empty afternoon
    filtered sun invites raven
    to dance this shoreline

  196. William Merk Says:

    flooded riverbank
    small rocks from this sandy ledge
    lost for the moment

  197. Alan Summers Says:

    I'm such a Christmas buff, that I became a professional Santa meeting and greeting hundreds of families every day over the season.

    Wonderful haiku.

    warm regards,

    Alan

  198. Alan Summers Says:

    I've Facebooked and tweeted a few times for people to go through ALL the haiku and support with likes, and comments if they can. :-)

  199. amangr Says:

    Living
    in my village–
    everything so pleasant–
    who cares it's by Potemkin, still
    it's mine!

  200. kiwiskan Says:

    patchwork snow
    holding shadows of the past
    until spring

  201. arvinder kaur Says:

    chiaroscuro –
    the walk back home
    fills with snow

  202. amangr Says:

    Running,
    no prize in sight,
    bug knows this table well
    and still it can not stop itself
    seeking.

  203. alexisrotella Says:

    Through fresh morning snow
    the tracks
    of a beast.

    Alexis Roella

  204. Amos White Says:

    New Year’s snow ?

    we write our name

    quickly

  205. Amos White Says:

    wood smoke ?

    now my footsteps

    follow me

  206. malinthap Says:

    on my way
    to meet you, I sink
    now and then

  207. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    Love this one – the idea that woodsmoke is the first guest to arrive for a festive party is very clever!

    marion

  208. Deborah P Kolodji Says:

    twenty years
    after the divorce . . .
    the wait for spring

  209. yfm Says:

    mourning

    morning and my heart yearns to find you lying next to me as I awake
    my arms find it not so

  210. amangr Says:

    Be still
    the Lisbon plane
    you dreamt that you were on
    was just a cardboard cut-out–dreams
    deceive.

  211. th. vandergrau Says:

    Nicely put!

  212. Deborah Leonard Says:

    Tracks in the snow
    memories melting away
    Like tears in my heart

  213. Isabelle Loverro Says:

    beneath the snow
    bulbs lay sleeping
    waiting for Spring

  214. Isabelle Loverro Says:

    morning mist
    crow's caw
    breaking the silence

  215. yoob games Says:

    This article seems to be overlooking the fact that information is a saleable commodity and altruism comes a poor second to commerce

  216. Karen Harvey Says:

    I carried you
    for so long – but now
    we have parted

  217. ipro academy system Says:

    Oh Nice

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