Now that I'm working on angel poems, I knew I had to pay tribute to the photograph and the photographer.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. The original photo, from which the angel was borrowed, is by Josef Koudelka, © 1968.
You can't see it from the portion of the angel in the illustration, but, if you look at the original photo, you'll find the angel wears sneakers...which puts me in mind of Elvis Costello:
If I had used the whole angel, I would have tinted his sneakers red!
The Round-Up for this week is being hosted by Kimberley.
Next week, I'll take a break from angels! So please come back.
I've never seen this photograph before. It's a wonderful moment and you've done a great job incorporating image and poem to make something new, Diane. (P.S. Did you see the video that was all over Facebook last week? Supposedly an angel intervention caught by traffic cameras.
ReplyDeleteYes, those videos pop up every once in a while to give us all pause.
DeleteI love your poetic response to this new-to-me photograph. I'd like to try this with some of our middle school students. They do a lot with primary sources and I think they could write some really interesting poems, using your poem as a mentor text.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great exercise and it frees the student from having to think up a topic to write about.
DeleteI agree that the photo has a sweet sadness about it. Your angel project fascinates me. The diversity of poetry amazes me every day. Like Carol, I think writing to primary source photos could be a great prompt for students.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret! Angels are familiar, yet unknowable. A nice paradox to explore.
DeleteI had a response more like your original one--seeing humor in the photo. I like the way your poem captures both possibilities, and especially the wistful humor of the final line. Red shoes? I agree with you and Elvis.
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of red ballet flats for special occasions, but the angels had better keep their grubby hands off!
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