Opal Reflections
Perspectives through Prose, Poetry and Photography
My “Hidden Mickey”
The quest rejoined, excitement builds
As, once again we set our sights
To see beyond the scrolls and frills,
Beyond the in-your-face, distracting, trite
displays; The brand, beyond the dazzling lights.
We’re partners, ready at the chase
A single purpose: reach the highest count
The brand creators, cleverly erase
with blinding backdrops, to distract – confound,
While mouse ears, at every turn, abound.
Despite the planning, searches and pursuits
I chance upon the tie-break scene:
Indentations pressed in fresh-raked sand
(a foot-print), tell much more than pausing at the scene,
My self-made Mickey – that makes eighteen!
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Hello, fellow Trifectans.
Since I am, obviously, still lingering in Disney World escape mode, I searched my vacation pics for inspiration. Voila! This early morning shot of footsteps in the freshly raked sand reveal, at first glance that someone in flip-flops trudged towards the water’s edge, pausing for a moment to decide which way to go, then continuing on. Look more closely, and using your imagination (it is fantasy, after all) you may see a spontaneous “Hidden Mickey”; a perfect example of a timeless brand.
This week’s challenge: use third definition of the word BRAND:
Definition of BRAND
1
a : a charred piece of wood
b : firebrand 1
c : something (as lightning) that resembles a firebrand
2: sword
3
a (1) : a mark made by burning with a hot iron to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership (2) : a printed mark made for similar purposes : trademark
b (1) : a mark put on criminals with a hot iron (2) : a mark of disgrace : stigma 4
a : a class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer : make
📖. *Poetic Form: Cinquain (times three- my personal modification of this classical form)
The cinquain, also known as a quintain or quintet, is a poem or stanza composed of five lines. Examples of cinquains can be found in many European languages, and the origin of the form dates back to medieval French poetry.
The most common cinquains in English follow a rhyme scheme of ababb, abaab or abccb. (Ref: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5775)
Haiku Friday: Black Crane
Regal, ebon crane
Glides through swamp-realm reeds; unseen,
Protected from harm.
p
Perspective
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I stand too close,
Too attentive.
I catch each whisper wafting through
the moments of our days together.
Too close!
Stand away!
Rejoice in life’s limitless, lush landscape;
Repeating, ever repeating,
Ever new!
🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘
Written in response to Trifextra Challenge, “This weekend’s prompt is to write 33 words exactly inspired by the following photo project by Eirik Solheim. Each slice of the photo compilation is a different day of the year, taken from the same location. Here’s the still shot: .
Photo Friday: On The Road: “Color me…Blend”
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A Disney World Denizen epitomizes being “On The Road”, as he joins his fellow Chameleons, darting here, there and everywhere, and always blending into the environs, as if by magic. They remind us, amid the excited squeals of the kiddies, that our home away from home, is actually their home!
👣👣👣
Evil, Be Gone!
Words to live by, golden lesson true,
Came unexpected; dousing lies, casting aside
her wicked, evil spell; her ungodly cauldron brew;
‘mid bursting night-sky flares. Truth will abide:
“Let your conscience be your guide!“
I wrote this cinquain*(see below), my first endeavor to master this poetic form, in response to this week’s Studio 30+ prompt: OPTION 1- ATM……..OPTION 2- LIES
My inspiration was the “Wishes” Fireworks display at Disney World last week. Following a theme of goodness, at risk of being overturn by evil (“Night on Bald Mountain), eventually being saved, in the nick of time, by Jimminy Cricket and his words of wisdom, “Let your conscience be your guide!” and the Grand Finale: “When you Wish Upon a Star”.
“See what a little wishing can do?”
*Poetic Form: Cinquain
The cinquain, also known as a quintain or quintet, is a poem or stanza composed of five lines. Examples of cinquains can be found in many European languages, and the origin of the form dates back to medieval French poetry.
The most common cinquains in English follow a rhyme scheme of ababb, abaab or abccb. (Ref: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5775)
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
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A life in brief;
White paper, black ink
Highlights, degrees, awards and stats;
Job descriptions, lauds and facts.
A single page, a bulleted sheaf
A static pencil sketch, barely
Scratching the surface of
the finished canvas masterpiece.
Between the lines of ink-jet words,
Unspoken joys and sorrows;
Peppered like seed pods,
Broad-scattered by shifting winds.
E’en, careful-tended gardens sometimes weep
As loss and grief crop up like weeds,
Amidst the brilliant blooms and flow’ring fruit:
Perennials – promised hopes of coming days.
Sundial shadows cast
and cast again, each day,
The oft-unnoticed passage ‘cross
time’s relentless arc.
A single page, a single life? Perhaps…
But, ‘neath the time-worn talking points,
an uncloaked life, laid bare, for all
to grasp the un-penned,
total truth.
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Written in response ti the Trifecta Challenge prompt: GRASP (verb), 3rd Definition:
3: to lay hold of with the mind : comprehend
Daily Prompt: Life Line: “The Hands of a Child”
Daily Prompt: Life Line…You’re on a long flight, and a palm reader sitting next to you insists she reads your palm. WHAT does she tell you.Photographers, artists, poets: show us HANDS.
The following is my entry:
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Nothing is as expressive and tacitly satisfying as molding a clump of wet sand with the palms of your hands. This photo, taken by my daughter of her nine year old son’s artistic play, captures perfectly that tactile sense. One can almost feel the grains of sand between the fingers and under the nails. I realize that I may not be objective when looking at a picture of my grandson, but to me, this is the epitome of a simple pleasure.
The Hands of a Child
In his hands,
Anything is possible,
The architect of his universe.
In his hands,
Grains of sand clump together,
Structures simple and sturdy.
In his hands
A pail of water, his mortar
His formed sphere, a new world.
In his hands,
Unparalleled imaginings
Transcended; living expression.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/daily-prompt-hands/
Daily Prompt: Moved to Tears
Daily Prompt: Moved to Tears
Describe the last time you were moved to tears by something beautiful.
Photographers, artists, poets: show us BEAUTY.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/daily-prompt-beauty/
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We’ve seen this boat show a hundred times.
We’ve climbed our “Sunrise Hill” at dusk, first with our children 35 years ago, and now with our grand children, to secure the optimum perch from which to watch.
And yet, as I quickened my pace to catch up with the family a few nights ago, I began to cry. Pushing back the tears, I made it to the top just in time, and together we all sat on that hill, watching again as the boats beamed their lights in synchronized time to the music.
Each year we rush back from wherever we are – Epcot, The Magic Kingdom, dinner at The Boardwalk – to make it back to The Poly by Nine PM. Each year we hum and sing along to the now familiar music and closing patriotic songs.
This year, as I sang along, I was listening more than singing…listening to the words of the concluding song – America The Beautiful” being sung by D-man (our #2 grandson). He left abruptly after the last boat display, before the lights-out music, because that music makes him sad; sad that he is leaving soon and sad that it is over.
I lagged behind the rest of the family after the show, hesitant to let them see that I was sad, too, and the tears I had successfully controlled at the outset, were now flowing freely.
#1 Grandson and my daughter, noticing that I was a slow poke, waited for me to catch up, and saw that I was crying. He took my hand and together we walked down the hill, back to our lagoon-view and a moonlight swim.
After all, we were all a bit sad and hearing a sweet child singing “America, The Beautiful” is enough to move even the coldest heart to tears.
Weekly Photo Challenge: One Shot, Two Ways
“One shot, two ways; as illustrated in these two photos, taken dockside at the Polynesian Village in Walt Disney World. The beautiful, nearly fully opened hibiscus blossom had fallen during a rain storm, landing atop a trash receptacle, in a rain puddle. Which proves the point that beauty can be found in the most unlikely places, if one takes the time to see these tiny miracles.
(Pentax K30, ISO 400, 30.6mm, f/5.0, 1/40 sec.)
(Pentax K30, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/100 sec)
Photo Friday: First Light
Pentax K30, ISO 200, 21.2 mm, f/14, 1/400 sec.
Each morning, the sun rises over the distant trees lining the shores of Bay Lake, to cast its long shadows across the still waters of the Seven Seas Lagoon. Each morning, a unique display is strewn before us like pearls; ever-changing, spectacular and unpredictable. We are blessed to share this morning-glory, in our very special corner of the ‘World’.
Driftwood
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It lay that morning
in gaping ghastliness,
aside the strangling seaweed,
clumped on my solitary
stretch of
sand.
A beached shark,
whose sharp tooth
splinters protruded
forward, in a last
gasp of
survival.
🌊🌊🌊
Having just returned from a Disney world vacation, I browsed through the plethora of uploaded photos and kept coming back to this interesting piece of driftwood. So after a week away from Trifecta, I seized the opportunity to use this photo as inspiration for my response to the very interesting prompt. I hope the tooth fairy did her job and that Lisa’s son is smiling.
Written in response to the weekend Trifextra prompt: “…write a 33-word response that uses the word TOOTH. Your response can use any definition of the word but cannot tell the story of someone losing a tooth.
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Submitted also, in response to this week’s Studio 30 prompt…Shark!
Photo Friday: Scenic Wonder
As we near the end of our annual family WDW vacation, staying at the Polynesian Village, I never tire of capturing ‘my’ sunrises through the camera lens. There have been many changes during the last 35 years, but one thing has remain unchanged; the glorious sun, rising over the trees that surround Bay Lake, casting its golden light across Seven Seas Lagoon.
Lighthouse in the Mist, Cape May, NJ
Bandit
Festive View from the Pub, Peddler’s Village – Lahaska, PA.
Home Sweet Home
Opal Reflections 