Writing prompt for issue 13.3

800px-Gapstow_bridge_of_central_park_in_november

Time for a quiet autumn stroll in the park while we assemble tinywords 13.3.

Okay, this issue’s photo prompt is from New York City’s Central Park so you’re going to have to create your own quiet. The image, courtesy of photographer Bryan Schorn, is of the iconic Gapstow Bridge which gaps the narrow neck of the Pond at 59th Street in Manhattan. Built in 1874, this graceful bridge is worthy of a poem or two.

So, add your best effort to our comment box below. A small poem inspired by anything you see in this image. We will consider the best of the best for inclusion in tinywords 13.3. We will also continue to accept regular submissions through October 20th at our Submit page.

111 Responses

  1. Rose Yu Says:

    puzzle box image
    a missing piece
    falls

  2. Christopher Pickslay Says:

    reflection
    seeing,
    and not seeing

  3. gjkissel Says:

    autumn shadows
    evanescent penumbra
    lunar eclipse

  4. Grace Galton Says:

    unfinished landscape…
    missing the clouds
    and sky

  5. Sylvia Forges-Ryan Says:

    Skyscrapers
    turned upside down
    by the small pond

  6. Margaret Chula Says:

    bridging city
    to nature, the stillness
    in between

  7. Sue Burke Says:

    twinge in my hip
    my personal autumn
    walking faster

  8. Marylouise Knight Says:

    the old bridge
    in this big city . . .
    footprints through time

  9. Julie Warther Says:

    crossing over
    more than happy
    to not take it with me

  10. John McManus Says:

    park bridge
    my child checks
    for trolls

  11. AnithaVarma Says:

    :)

  12. Emilie Lee Says:

    still waters
    highlighted
    beneath the bridge

  13. T. Johnson Says:

    Nature's flourish eclipses
    manmade tinkerings

  14. T. Johnson Says:

    Should have three lines – computer glitch or author return key error (more likely!):

    Nature's flourish
    eclipses
    manmade tinkerings

  15. Elle L Says:

    Walking to autumn
    Crossing the seasons
    Leaves flow brightly, bye

  16. Eileen McCluskey Says:

    The journey
    carries us over
    ourselves

  17. Tanya Bryan Says:

    stone bridge
    embraced by ruska
    above and below

  18. sondra byrnes Says:

    afternoon
    threads
    an opening

  19. Wayne L. Miller Says:

    bridge to nowhere
    turn around
    bridge to nowhere

  20. Eileen McCluskey Says:

    mystery always
    catches my eye
    leads me somewhere

  21. Rosa Clement Says:

    city reflections
    colorful leaves hide
    all the gray

  22. Karen Stromberg Says:

    autumn
    as far as one can see
    floating leaves

  23. James Brush Says:

    that bridge in midtown
    holding hands we didn't know
    you were pregnant

  24. Joann G Says:

    beyond the bridge…
    rust disappears
    leaf by leaf

  25. Eddee Daniel Says:

    waiting for rain
    the unceasing thunder
    of traffic

  26. Sally Hunter Says:

    That's good.

  27. Joseph Llewellyn Says:

    gapstow bridge
    where do the ducks go
    in the winter

    (…apologies salinger)

  28. penhart Says:

    In the Park

    old pond—
    sunlight shimmers
    on the still water

    yellow leaves drift
    both above and below
    the stone bridge

    the stones soften
    and blur in their
    shadowed reflection

    echoes of the sun
    bounce off a few
    skyscraper windows

    long ago picnic—
    faint melodies still
    in the twilight

    Penny Harter

  29. Sally Hunter Says:

    The last stanza could stand alone…

  30. martin1223 Says:

    wet leaves
    the traffic muffles tinnitus

  31. Alan Summers Says:

    .
    slow sunshine
    a butterfly lands
    the big O

    .

  32. martin1223 Says:

    street lights
    through the winter trees
    night sky

  33. Anne Curran Says:

    Gapstow Bridge
    its wisened secrets
    flow beneath

  34. martin1223 Says:

    roasted chestnuts
    through the traffic noise
    winter trees

  35. aaisme Says:

    blocking the light just a bit autumn leaves

  36. Sally Hunter Says:

    I like it.

  37. Aalix Roake Says:

    aaissme is actually Aalix Roake,
    Sorry for any confusion,
    Aalix

  38. anniecurran5 Says:

    Glasgow Bridge
    its fallen secrets
    flow beneath

  39. anniecurran5 Says:

    Gapstow Bridge
    fallen leaves
    flow beneath

  40. Claudette Russell Says:

    autumn rustles
    above the bridge
    that does not change

  41. Claudette Russell Says:

    autumn leaves
    scatter across the bridge
    and back again

  42. Barbara A. Taylor Says:

    why is it now
    the falling leaves of colour
    bring only sadness?

  43. martin1223 Says:

    stone bridge
    autumn leaves pass
    through me

  44. edgarhopper Says:

    Gapstow Bridge
    memories of rome
    in new york

  45. Kim Peter Kovac Says:

    moss on the stones
    skyscrapers rippling underneath
    old arc of grace

  46. Mary Emma D Pierson Says:

    tree shadowed water
    stone link
    at its neck

  47. Seren Fargo Says:

    city park
    my secret spot
    where skyscrapers disappear

  48. Scott Guilfoyle Says:

    So the green leaves had there fun,
    there four months of cozy summer
    before the cycle of life said,
    we must shed our coats, our skin,
    and give chance to next guy to live his out.
    So we will make room, but first we
    will dazzle the NY masses with
    our dynamic colors, then fall off
    ever so gently dancing our
    last dance; strutting our stuff
    all the way to the ground.
    ####################

    I hope this isn't too long and I don't know what subscribe to means. I subscribe to your site and sent in some haiku and I'm a New Yawker to boot lol.

  49. Scott Says:

    The 1874 bridge links
    our far away years
    with this fall season

    Forgot my haiku.

  50. Tish Davis Says:

    connecting
    autumn
    with the Gapstow Bridge

  51. Mary Emma D Pierson Says:

    tree shadowed water
    stone link
    at its neck

  52. @Kushalpoe Says:

    the dawdling heart of stream
    beneath the bridge.
    Stones, trees, bricks.

    -Kushal Poddar

  53. Margaret Dornaus Says:

    autumn in New York . . .
    the promise of new love
    in a fallen leaf

  54. Ramesh Anand Says:

    serene pond
    the fall outlining
    the sky

  55. AnithaVarma Says:

    Good one, Ramesh.. enjoyed this.. (Y)

    Anitha.

  56. polona Says:

    city smog
    the glow of autumn leaves
    on my desktop

  57. marcusliljedahl Says:

    stone bridge
    my mind wanders
    between now and then

  58. AnithaVarma Says:

    chrysanthemum sky..
    bridge in the creek
    ripples

  59. dawndream1 Says:

    autumn light
    the dreams we keep
    inside

  60. Sally Hunter Says:

    are the grooves on the bridge
    drawn
    by the overlapping
    lines in the tree?

  61. Maureen Virchau Says:

    seeing the trees
    through the forest
    Gapstow bridge

  62. Peter Newton Says:

    under the arch of the bridge
    the life
    I sometimes imagine

  63. gennepher Says:

    footfalls
    over the bridge
    autumn leaves

  64. AnithaVarma Says:

    good one.. (Y)

  65. LeRoy Gorman Says:

    leaves on their backs
    not so long ago
    they were minnows

  66. Jane DeJonghe Says:

    Gapstow Bridge –
    a moment
    in times

  67. Olivier Schopfer Says:

    old bridge
    a leaf falls
    without a sound

  68. greenlightlady Says:

    We cross the bridge
    from summer to autumn
    deeper into our age
    with memories behind
    and more ahead to make

  69. Ellen Grace Olinger Says:

    photo of a place
    I've never been
    here too leaves fall

  70. martin1223 Says:

    59th street bridge
    leaves pass through me

  71. Ellen Grace Olinger Says:

    weathered trees
    by roads and fields
    winter is arriving
    once again
    in the north

  72. Gregory Longenecker Says:

    stone bridge
    another generation
    of leaves

  73. Mary Davila Says:

    surgery day_the lift of a withered leaf_by an autumn breeze

  74. Mary Davila Says:

    I had this as 3 lines, but it automatically converted it to 1.

  75. Gregory Longenecker Says:

    between
    summer and winter
    Gapstow Bridge

  76. Eileen McCluskey Says:

    humble stones dwell
    serene beneath
    the venerable one

  77. Maureen Virchau Says:

    autumn stroll
    bridging the gap
    between us

  78. Maureen Virchau Says:

    pausing to listen
    for Basho's frog
    Gapstow Bridge

  79. Niamh Says:

    still water
    the silence of snails
    copulating

  80. Vega Says:

    James,
    I found your
    bridge,
    the one
    that confounded
    Robert.

  81. Nicholas Says:

    I apologize, I somehow submitted the same poem twice. Please disregard the duplicate since I cannot delete it myself.

  82. Chris Wenk-Harrison Says:

    savor autumn's final bow
    leaves and snow soon fall,
    winter's reign

  83. martin1223 Says:

    59th street pond
    under the arched bridge
    autumn skyscrapers

    59th street pond
    a patch of wet snow
    through autumn

    59th street pond
    the sound of autumn traffic

    59th street pond
    autumn leaves pass
    through me

  84. Jeanne B Says:

    autumn kisses
    water under the bridge
    still

  85. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    autumn in the city eye of a bridge unblinking

  86. Jana Staurovska Says:

    Calm water
    with colorful leaves under bridge
    crispy autumn

  87. Rob Dingman Says:

    crossing the footbridge
    below us in the stream
    the Milky Way

  88. MarySquier Says:

    migrating geese
    pebbles
    from the bridge

  89. Dan Slaten Says:

    seeking solitude
    in a city of millions
    bridge without people

  90. Anna Goluba Says:

    This old bridge…
    Still waiting
    For you and me

  91. Anna Goluba Says:

    This old bridge…
    Still waiting
    For you and me

  92. Kizi 2 Says:

    Autumn always brings me much emotion, I love autumn

  93. Jan Dobb Says:

    stone bridge . . .
    autumn leaves the only
    footsteps

  94. martin1223 Says:

    autumn traffic
    through the maple leaves
    wet snow

  95. Jan Dobb Says:

    Thanks for your response Martin. I like your pivotal effect in this one. A pleasant ambiguity.

  96. Neelam Dadhwal Says:

    a stone bridge
    silent at its shadow-
    autumn day

  97. iokua Says:

    here i am
    reflecting mid-span
    autumn colors

  98. Randy Cadenhead Says:

    Before the leaf falls
    It whispers its dying words
    To the Autumn breeze

  99. Kellie Conetsco Says:

    Escaping my City
    to cross
    into autumn

  100. Tish Davis Says:

    my lunch hour
    in and out
    of autumn

  101. L. Williams Says:

    story arc
    another bridge
    to cross

  102. Theresa C. Says:

    skyscraper reflected
    in the Pond —
    unfinished work

    skyscraper reflected
    in the Pond —
    unfinished business

  103. Theresa C. Says:

    falling leaves
    partner seconds
    through the hours —
    the bridge watches

    ——–

    tall buildings cast
    new shadows 
    on old stones

  104. Kashinath karmakar Says:

    another autumn-
    things i must do before
    the next winter

    -kashinath karmakar (kash poet)

  105. Charline Says:

    over the pond
    the weight
    of the Gapstow Bridge

  106. GeorgiaAHLK Says:

    Cat Bridge in Fall

    Spry young trees
    stand straight & tall,
    flaunting autumn foliage
    at facades of distant buildings
    showing off taller, straighter flatness
    & out-whiting one another.
    Ancient tree
    bows to autumnal calico
    reflected in stream-like pond.
    Tree tries to emulate rustic curve
    of patchwork bridge built
    of rough brown stones.
    Bridge
    mimes feline spine
    of cat seen only by bridge herself,
    & by large stone alligator
    sprawled on shore
    & small bird
    perched on
    bent old
    tree.

    © Georgia Kornbluth 2013

  107. haikuapprentice Says:

    bridge dilemma –
    to cross over
    or float beneath

    Strider

  108. Aminanimator Says:

    with Grandpa

  109. Billy Antonio Says:

    found
    dreams of green things
    growing

  110. June Wideman Says:

    Train boxcars
    Art
    In motion

  111. sportsxyzforfree apk Says:

    Natures beauty has no competition.
    Word's are very to express its beauty.
    Natures beauty is reflecting in the river.

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