Monday, October 3, 2011

The Sandcastle Competition

A bizarre and beautiful image from Tess at Magpie Tales.  More Magpies roosting here. 






The Sandcastle Competition



Every year, they rise as temporary sculptures:

castles built on sand

Scenes from movies, fairy tales, famous faces,

and the seven wonders of the world.



Every year, the earnest and dedicated,

denying the inevitable – as we all must –

and with magic soup to hold the sand

Create to last a thousand years:

a man’s lifetime, a wing-flap’s span.



The waves hunch in, the crowds dissolve

the sand – in all its genius – remains.




x

29 comments:

Kathy B. said...

Oh, wow, lovely Magpie of the impossible and the tenuous. (The word verification prompt for this comment is: inessiv, which seems like a nice mix of ineffable + impressive + sand blowing letters apart.)

Dave King said...

Lovely poem. Great thinking behind it. Congratulations.

Lyn said...

Very profound..what remains..the original clay?? Brilliant

Doctor FTSE said...

Very thoughtful extended metaphor making an interesting poem.

Ann Grenier said...

Perhaps we should all create to last one thousand years...so the sand might remember us. Beautiful poem.

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

Scenes from movies, fairy tales, famous faces,

and the seven wonders of the world.


awesome imagery in those lines, well done.

ds said...

Gorgeous. Yes, the sand will remain, and a thousand year's truly is a mere wing-flap's span. Wonderful poem.Thank you.

Helen said...

I saw the sand as playing an important role in Tess' photo too ... beautifully conceived, and written.

Words A Day said...

beautiful and unexpected, and lovely line -magic soup to hold the sand

Brian Miller said...

the sand remains...nice...a unique play on the prompt...and i like it much...some really nice phrasing...

Jenny Woolf said...

Good poem and extraordinary image, too.

jabblog said...

Many references here and beautifully knitted together. I like 'The waves hunch in' - just perfect, because they do.

emanita01 said...

Nice take here and oh, do I like these words:
"the sand – in all its genius – remains."

Berowne said...

"Castles built on sand" -- as so many are...

Maggie said...

So beautiful.

Unknown said...

this is gorgeous!

Tess Kincaid said...

Beautiful...there is a genius in the sand...

Chronicles of Illusions said...

beautiful : and with magic soup to hold the sand
loved this line

Cathy Feaster said...

I do love sand...nice imagery here and great take on the prompt :)

Trellissimo said...

Good stuff. One of nit very many that made use of the sand.

kaykuala said...

It is beautiful, sand castles can be creatively done. Sadly it is not meant to last like Mount Rushmore. That makes it more challenging though! Good write!

Hank

lucychili said...

a lovely shifty sandscape
great poem

chiccoreal said...

Dear Isabel: Yes, it doesn't matter what we do to the sand it's "genius" remains much more powerful than anything we could ever attempt to do to it. (I am just noticing how perfect this pic and poem with the sand motif; why didnt i see sand..i need glasses!):)

Nanka said...

Beautiful expressions of sand and ..lifetime, a wing-flap's span is great!!

Kathe W. said...

brilliant poem

Kathe W. said...

brilliant poem

Lolamouse said...

Beautiful! I especially love the last line. It captures the wisdom and essential truth of nature and time.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Brilliant stuff!

Anna :o]