The Flower, the Ring, and the Wheel: New Visions of a Heartwarming Photo, By Three Young Poets

I found this photo on someone's Facebook page, uncredited, so if anyone knows its origin, please let me know so that I can post it here. That said, isn't this a moving photo representing a community of children? It's a moving writing prompt, as well, as you're about to see from the three metaphorical poems inspired by this picture, by two 12-year-old girls and one 11-year-old boy….

Wheel of Community

by P.M., age 12

The spokes all work together,

to keep the wheel moving

they use their heads,

to hold up their community.

Their feet nailed to the center

without any gaps,

the spokes are all important.

With gaps and spaces,

the community won't

turn, move, or progress properly

on the grassy road of life.

*          *          *          *

A Ring Forever

by A.C., age 12

Heads of honeycomb stud the ring

Curving around elegant forms in warm hues of brown

That come together like rays of the sun.

In the middle of a leafy, green forest

Lies the ring,

A ring crafted not of cold diamond and gaudy gold,

But of life, of beating hearts, and hands and feet 

   wreathed together;

Of peace, unity, happiness, and freedom

On the longest day, and longest night,

When shadows stretch, and the sun and moon

   are at their fullest.

It is then, that the forgotten people

Of a faraway place gather in an unknown 

   corner of a nameless jungle,

As these people, so long ago discarded by others

Come together, time stops.

And there is only music,

The soft whistling of the wind and hum of the crickets,

   of voices, young and deep, and 

   old and cracked, strung together by the rhythm 

   of the ground.

It is not perfect, but it is together.

It is a ring forever,

A promise to the earth.

     *     *     *     *     *     *

Flower

by D.S., age 11

An open flower

Awaits

With welcoming arms

For bees to come

and bring it pollen

And to take its nectar

To share with 

the world.

Most of us

See only

Bees coming in

And giving

And flowers

Simply receiving

But

It gives 

Us 

Things we 

Would never imagine

So when we go to 

Pollinate the flowers

With seeds of knowledge

We return with sweet nectar knowledge and memories

Of their cultures

Of their Ubuntu*

Of the things that they

Offer to us.

Accept their gifts 

With open arms

For though it seems that

We may not,

We need each other,

We do.

For we need

To share

Our ingenuity

Our culture

Our own special talents.

In Africa,

A flower waits with open arms

for you.

Go to it.

*"Ubuntu" is a Nguni Bantu term roughly translating to "human kindness." It is an idea from the Southern African region which means literally "human-ness." We discussed this briefly in class as we looked at the picture.

If You're Blessed Enough To Move, You're Blessed Enough To Move Others

Writer's block does not exist as long as our bodies, eyes, and minds have the energy to move, to observe, and to ponder. Discovering the world is how we help others to discover what we see, what we imagine, and how we feel. We can then share our discoveries by building them from word pictures into mental movies. But first we must move in order to move others. Look at what I found while taking a walk in an old LA neighborhood--a writing prompt hiding in a rectangle of the world that I was blessed enough to capture with my camera:

Rather than sharing my answer to the "what if" questions prompted by this picture, I am asking you--readers of any age--to describe what you see/imagine in this rectangle of the world, and what would happen next if this picture had a Play button.

Will you write a poem, or a story? Will it be a fantasy, a horror story, a sci-fi tale? What do you see: a magical, arboreal eruption; a giant's foot or a monster's hoof; an extraterrestrial invader or protector? Who will see this image, and how will he/she/they react? What if you awoke to see this outside your window, from the house across the street?

If you share with me and my readers your opening lines or paragraphs in the comments section below, I promise to share my positive feedback. You're blessed enough to read, so you're blessed enough to have your words read by others!

Nine-year-old Student Channeling Ray Bradbury?

          I gave one of my favorite photo prompts--a boy sitting in a wheelchair as he blows bubbles--to 9-year-old A.C. with these instructions: "Write a story about this boy, showing his point-of-view, as he blows bubbles and watches them fly away. Show how he feels, sitting in his wheelchair, as the bubbles freely float away." Here is the story. My comments will follow.

The Bubble Solution

By A. C., age 9

        

         A little boy sat hopelessly in his wheelchair and blew a bubble. As he dipped the wand into the solution and blew the bubbles, he wished he could fly away like the bubbles. He wished he could land on a grass field like he used to when he could walk. Then his eyes followed the bubble he blew. It glided across the streets. Finally it landed. It landed on a little boy in a wheelchair—just like him.

         “Jose!” the other little boy exclaimed jovially. Jose wondered how the boy knew his name. The boy rolled his wheels over to Jose and smiled.

         “I’m the future version of you,” he said, as he stood up.

         Jose widened his eyes like a tulip opening its petals. He blinked. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. At last he finally pulled himself together and asked, “You can walk?”

         The future version nodded his head and said, “All it took was some belief in myself and practice.”

         “Is that the key?”

         The future Jose nodded again. Then, suddenly he vanished. The present Jose thought about that for a moment and started getting up. He carefully balanced himself and started limping. He had done it! “Thank you, Jose,” he said to himself. “Maybe sometimes the solution is to just believe in yourself.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

         
          When A.C. showed me the finished story, I exclaimed, "Wow! How did you think of this?! It's like a sci-fi story. Like something a young Ray Bradbury would write!" To her puzzled look, I replied with an explanation about who Ray Bradbury was.
          She smiled at my comparison to a "brilliant author who used science fiction to teach big life lessons." Then she explained that "lately I've been into Star Trek a lot, so I guess I was thinking about the boy seeing another version of himself, and…well, I just thought it would be a good idea."
          "So you wrote a science fiction kind of story, like a parallel universe, right? And then it becomes his imagination…"
          Nodding vigorously, she added, "And, his imagination helps him walk again because he learns to believe in himself."
          The power of mind over body, she meant. Right? The power of the mind--yes, indeed!