Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s photography prompts.
There were many terrific photos, here are just a few submissions that made our hearts melt, too.
Be sure to check out the highlights from Photo Prompt participants on the Photo Play Pinterest board! And keep clicking and/or playing with words.
Here is a poem by Karen depicting the tender devotion of her faithful dog:
Wafts of white fur wrap me warm
Burnished brown eyes bury every torment
Black button nose sniffs a scent of perfume or cancer
Relaxing against me in rest or sitting silent as I sicken,
Never leaving, never needing
Tongue washing me clean of chemo and
kissing me at the same time
My shadow that signals sunlight,
The whisper that wakes my soul
— by Karen King
NOTE TO POETS: Looking for your Monday poetry prompt? On Photo Play weeks, it’s right here. Choose a photo from the post and respond with a poem. Leave your poem in the comment box. We’ll be reading. 
Photos by Greg, James Scott Smith, and Simply Darlene. Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Heather Eure.
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Sometimes we feature your poems in Every Day Poems, with your permission of course. Thanks for writing with us!
Browse more photography prompts
Browse more dog poems
Browse more poetry teaching resources
- Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
- Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
- Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018
Richard Maxson says
This is for Taiko. Who was a rover his short life. The poem also recalls a favorite childhood poem, Little Boy Blue by Eugene Field.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/323274079475528148/
Taiko
Like a little toy dog the color of rust,
with eyes brown and blue, you stand.
And recalling a poem, in memory dust,
I smile and extend you my hand.
That was a time when a turn in my life
turned a dream into time so untrue.
And wandering then, a sheath for a knife,
I came each day to a window with you.
Love can be selfish—advise from the years
that made ragged the edges of rhyme—
and selfish it was trading you for my tears,
taking you into that terrible time.
Things break apart that faithful won’t hold;
paradise is wrought with a worm—
The way of your heart was wild and so bold,
neither tether nor love held you firm.
And here in this photo all these years through,
so still in the same old chair,
I wished that someone else had picked you
from that window as you waited there.
Rosanne Osborne says
A Dog’s Prayer for his People
He broods over his people like a cleric
approaching the throne. His furry cassock
cloaks a heart consecrated to singular
intent. “Let them be well.”
His paws on the altar of sacrifice
and devotion, he silently says his beads
of contrition, his rosary of grace.
“Return them safely to my sight.”
His daily office, he wordlessly intones
while the hours are chimed by bells
deep within his soul. His eyes bless
his own. “Peace rest on them.”
Marcy says
For Griffin
Fluffy, softness,
Tan belly, big ears,
The rest all black and gray.
Lays in your lap like a baby
Just about every single day.
Loves the water, plays in it,
Swims in it, bought it a kiddie pool.
It’s purple plastic,
He loves it,
Man, this one had me fooled.
Plays fetch better than any dog
I’ve seen.
Throw that ball,
He’ll run after it,
Bring it back,
Best retriever on the street.
Eats a lot, he’s up to fourteen pounds,
Kisses you right in the mouth.
Sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,
He chews all the shoelaces and bites
Them in two.
He chewed my orange croc flip-flops too.
For some reason we thought we bought home
A cat.
But he acts like a dog,
Bites down hard.
Right now,
We’re not sure where he’s at.
So, you poet’s,
What do you think of that?