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Make Me Laugh: Photo Play 2

By Heather Eure 12 Comments

When we see a photo of someone laughing, we can’t help but smile back.

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s Photo Play and Prompt. Our feature photo at the top of the page was shot by bowenmurphy. It is pure joy. You can almost hear the sparkling laughter!

In the next photograph, Richard shares a candid of his daughters hugging it out. The accompanying poem he wrote compares their formative years to a movie. Rivalry, hair tugs, and the usual bickering evolve into appreciation and bonds of affection. He says it well:

In the end, there is the love and laughter,
suddenly, like a plot, but there is no script for this.

Make Me Laugh

POETRY PROMPT: Find inspiration from one of the photos in the post and respond with a poem. Leave your poem in the comment box.

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.

Photos by bowenmurphy, Richard Maxson, and Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Heather Eure.

________________________

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Heather Eure
Heather Eure
Heather Eure has served as the Poetry Editor for the late Burnside Collective and Special Projects Editor for us at Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared at Every Day Poems. Her wit has appeared just about everywhere she's ever showed up, and if you're lucky you were there to hear it.
Heather Eure
Latest posts by Heather Eure (see all)
  • Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
  • Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
  • Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018

Filed Under: Blog, Funny Poems, Photo Play, Photography prompts, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, writing prompts

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Comments

  1. Maureen Doallas says

    December 15, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Beautiful daughters, Richard.

    Thank you for your comments on the Hutchison interview. They are much appreciated.

    Reply
    • Richard Maxson says

      December 16, 2014 at 11:14 am

      Thanks, Maureen. I was lucky to get capture this moment. Both daughters were married this year, Abby in July and Allison two days ago. True to their personalities, Abby planned an elaborate wedding with reception, 200 guests, photographs, the whole magilla. Allison quietly married, just she and her husband in a park in Austin and called family and friends that evening to let them know.

      Thank you for the Hutchison interviews. His responses were insightful and reassuring for those of us who have no clue how to fully interpret poetry as calculus.

      Reply
  2. Richard Maxson says

    December 16, 2014 at 11:16 am

    Thanks, Heather, for the post. We’ve already informed the girls of their 15 minutes (although, I’m sure they’re in for more).

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      December 21, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      Aww, nice! They are lovely girls, Richard.

      Reply
  3. Simply Darlene says

    December 17, 2014 at 11:47 am

    Richard,

    What a a great, candid moment of fun — I’ve not been able to capture such a glimpse — because if there’s laughter, I’m joining in and I loose the focus and the image. :-)\

    And, congrats on all the marriages.

    Blessings.

    Reply
    • Richard Maxson says

      December 18, 2014 at 3:39 am

      Thank you, Darlene. We are so happy for these sisters and their new husbands.

      Oh, I have a folder full of out-of-focus photos of moments like this. It makes me admire Andrew Mills, the sports photographer who captured, in only three frames in perfect focus, Odell Beckham Jr. catch a touchdown pass with three fingers.

      Reply
  4. Richard Maxson says

    December 18, 2014 at 3:23 am

    Bentonville, Arkansas is only an hour from Eureka Springs. It is the home of the amazing Crystal Bridges art museum and the Waltons. No, not those Waltons, I mean Sam and family.

    http://tinyurl.com/o9qkx2l

    The Emperor of Wal-Mart

    Call the next special of the day,
    the irresistible one that turns a cart
    in mid-stride, the jabbering jam-packer
    of aisles. The wenches dawdle in the profusion
    the box boys bring and compare their newspapers.
    Take the nectar from the voice to heart.
    The only emperor is the emperor of Wal-Mart.

    Take for the dresses this deal.
    Take the truck mud-flaps and door knobs,
    and the fake embroidered pillows, cheap,
    and heap them not so high that you can’t see
    the coming light that in the aisle protrudes.
    On the fork lift he rides and sings of house wares,
    of furniture that comes in unassembled parts.
    The only emperor is the emperor of Wal-Mart.

    (Apologies to Wallace Stevens)

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      December 21, 2014 at 3:08 pm

      Clever, Richard! Mr. Stevens “let be be finale of seem” fits the hallowed aisles of The Wal-Mart. Bet he’d find this poem as amusing as I did.

      Reply
  5. Laura Brown says

    December 19, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    Intersection

    Yes, you look familiar, too.
    I’m about to catch the bus—
    I did go to P.S. 132.
    Wait—is it—Gus?

    You were the one who didn’t eat cheese
    and gave me yours in the caf.
    Remember spoon-catapulting peas
    to make that sad kid laugh?

    And learning to write, when we figured out
    one letter could change a word—
    see bee pee, boot toot poot—
    and the principal overheard?

    And behind the pull-down map of the earth
    when you tried to give me a kiss?
    Nah, there’ll be another. It’s worth
    missing a bus for this.

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      December 21, 2014 at 3:00 pm

      Such fun, Laura! “Remember spoon-catapulting peas/to make that sad kid laugh?” is one of my favorite parts. 🙂

      Reply
      • Laura Brown says

        December 21, 2014 at 3:31 pm

        Mine too.

        Reply
    • Richard Maxson says

      December 23, 2014 at 5:04 am

      Thanks.

      Reply

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