spotlight fades
sunsets on world stages
leaving remnants
of [power] plays, en-acted
by kings, in
no clothing,
but bullets for voices
silence
dying
still they echo
What can you say in 160 characters? Tell Monkey.
This was inspired by the above picture, entitled "The Show Must Go On" which is the prompt for One Shoot Sunday over at One Stop Poetry.
Posts
80 comments:
photo and words together...perfection.
So appropriate for today's times. As Dave said, it's perfect.
Photo is great and your words compliment it so well.
I look at that fabulous photo and read your words and I can hear the echo of voices hauntingly in the wind. I can see the shadows play and dance; remembering!!
Thanks Brian...brilliant!!
Hugs
SueAnn
Hi! Brian...
Before and After (The actors on the stage departed, but yet the players voices still can be heard...) are two words that comes to my mind...
Nice photograph...Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
Powerful words that echo our evening news... Good one, Brian.
Wow, Brian! Great 160--amazing how you manage to provide a powerful commentary in such a compressed space. I think that's one of your true strengths! As always, a wonderful poem from a fabulous poet!
So much conveyed with 160 strokes! Powerful Brian.
Yeah those bullets can echo for two three generations as they ricochet from age to age.
this has so many layers! Love it!
This was a good one. I'm amazed by this. Thanks.
Ooh a powerful use of such few words!
I don't think I could say much in 160, my tweets tell me I fail at 140! Brian nice tight write, and power play will always be paramount in the world ;) huge smiles from me
Bullets for voices! Imma need kevlar ears!
haunting last lines with the echo effect. Kick ass 160
Beautiful poem - sad commentary on our world. And the show is still going on.
death echoes. very interesting. thanks brian!
beverly...it is sad commentary but we do have those willing to use their voice no matter the consequence....and i think that is a good thing...a la egypt/libya
'power plays'...makes me hear either the reverberating lines of an actor or the wails of a 15 minute guitar solo!well done.
indeed the world never changes, love this photo and your words, always
Evocative play on words Brian...
the title reminds me of my days on the stage when that show absolutely HAD to go on regardless...yet so did life when the curtain came down.
Your words always have so many layers..
You words and CNN's words are scarily similar!
kings, in no clothing...
so true. Very poignant Brian.
A true portrait of today's times in Egypt and Libya. Perfect photo match, too. Brilliant!
I liked this. The world stage is just a backdrop for my life, but the scenery is becoming increasingly intrusive. And disturbing.
It can't be ignored. But I won't let it run my show, either.
Well done, Brian.
=)
I'm reminded of Whitman:
"The powerful play goes on, and will you contribute a verse?"
Wow -- this is great.
And powerful.
This is so great and, yes, the show must go on; and thank goodness there are "actors" willing to take the risks and do the job. "Bullets for words"...wow... the world stage is presenting much of that lately.
I love the captivating photo that accompanies your words.
Hi Brian,
Although there are not many words you have conveyed much in a nutshell.
We are all actors on the stage and when the show ends the spot light fades and we vanish. Some of us will get good roles and perform well and others will get the role of villains and put up a poor show.
Lovely photo.
Joseph
You have such a unique way of seeing things, Brian! Very nice.
No matter the environment, the ghosts of the great will always overshadow the reality, their impact to be felt years after their encore performance. Thought this was a fantastic response to the image, and as always, a great read. I've yet to be disappointed with a visit here :)
Very nice. If I haven't said so before, I love the way your brain works!
Great 160 adn WOW what a photo. Thanks for playing along, Brian. We also have a new player today. Pheromone Girl...check her out.
wonder if you've ever thought about a political carreer..smiles
strong write brian - esp. love the kings without clothes and the bullets for voices..and the echo
Your words do compliment that picture.
Maggie X
Nuts in May
It's hard not to listen to what the bullets are saying. I wish their run on the world stage was over.
Since I've been out like a light for the last three days had to read all three of your latest--'time out' was just incredible, and your 55 quite sneakily clever under a nice romantic ballgown of simile. This one is stark and strong and off the AP wire-true.
I like where you took the photo. I need some muses!
i like the line - bullets for voices - hope you are having a great sunday!
Love the words for the prompt. Thanks for your visit today.
Picture reminds me of a place I saw in a metro
All the world's a stage
and destructive forces can be found on every single one.
How can you say so much in so few words? Amazing. What a mind you have. Blessings Brian.
"Dying, they still echo"
How powerful is that???
Another great write.
Yes, Brian, the echoes remain.
Well done.
Pamela
Timely and workmanlike!
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
><}}(°>
><}}(°>
Leaving us all with the eerie feeling it's only the first act.
can't wait for the summer festivals to start again
You said what must be said in so few words, which makes the poem more urgent, more effective. I also like how the first three words set up the poem as if it will be about art, but then the bracketed work, an aside, changes the direction.
"still they echo." Indeed.
There's no real ending to those plays.
I had to read this three times before my mind cleared its palate. I was just leaving the burlesque palace when I entered a short stark view of the real world where despots wear no clothes and ruthlessly exert their power. Vitriol pours beneath your very tight write and the ridiculous becomes the real. Excellent Brian. Gay
Good job. Reads much like the picture looks. Which unfortunately, as you suggest, is how too much of the world looks.
"The Show Must Go On." Heh!Heh! Yeah, buddy...
The fifth - in reading order - of my favorite entries in this week's offering.
Simply: perfect, perfect, perfect, in an above-average way.
thanks gay...it was a play on the "emperor with no clothes" as these days the world is a stage and everyone sees what is going on...but they really dont seem to care...
Haunting, poignant with many layers. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Those hairs never steer me wrong.
I definitely had the same line of thought from this prompt...magnificently precise word execution.
My thoughts and imagination ran wild just looking at and studying the photo. You words made a nice accompaniment.
You reminded me of a time in my life when I was dealing with the loss of someone I really cared for. It was about one in the morning, and I had just gotten in and was standing in my bathroom sobbing, my dad knocked on the door and came in and gave me a big hug and said, "just remember the sun will still rise and still set tomorrow, and each day after". The show does go on, no matter what happens, life just keeps moving....great 160...smiles
So true...so very, very true. I often go by run down houses and think of the families that lived there, what hopes and dreams they might have had! The old adage of "if walls could talk" really haunts one.
Words and pic go really well together :)
wonderfully written, Brian!
missed the prompt this week. oh, well, maybe next week
well done!
thank you
"leaving remnants
of [power] plays"
"bullets for voices"
amazing what you compressed into 160 characters, Brian.
"dying
still they echo"
brilliant!
The poem and the photo - a new art form. This is something, Brian.
Excellent!
"spotlight fades
sunset on world stages"
I can read that line over and over...literally feels good when spoken.
I can see some shadows here as well my friend!
You can always be relied on to say something significant.
Thanks for your comment on my cod Shakespeare based on this photograph.
Beautiful words of times gone by, when only memories remain.
Have a lovely Monday dear friend,
xoxo
The world's sad truth couldn't have been stated in a more poetically beautifully way than the way you just did, Brian..
The words seem just perfect for that beautiful image which serves as a backdrop..
"bullets for voices". You didn't even need 160, you said it all in 16.
What instantly came to mind are the upcoming presidential elections. Great one Brian!
OOOOOOoooo I LIKE this one! It's really interesting so far in my reading of responses, that destruction and lies are what people are noticing in the image.
All the world's a stage. The play is performed by heroes and villains, their words echoed on the nightly news.
Good one, Brian, very "au current."
Exactly! Loved the ref to the king with no clothes...
So much in 160. ...the world is a stage, that's for sure!
Embedding the world's undoing of itself by 'nude kings', a self-absorbed world-mind on a ruined empty stage--a brilliant leap, Brian! Thank you!
You're able to pack so much into so few words. The picture is enchanting, too.
"bullets for voices" three words packing a powerful punch :)
I love the photo, it conjures many, many things. And thanks for the visit!
I wonder at the events that took place on that stage.
its always bullet for truth.
Post a Comment