This month Margaret posed our Inklings challenge. She matched us up with partners and instructed us to send images to each other and write a poem sparked by the image we received. Catherine Flynn was my partner and she sent me three photos to choose between. I struggled to chose which picture to use, but kept coming back to this one:
Hope
is a cluster of eggs
nestled together.
Exquisite promise
cradled
in the terrifying fragility
of three thin shells.
©Molly Hogan
If you’d like to see what others in the group did with their photo prompts, click on the links below:
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Heidi @my juicy little universe
This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Matt Forrest Esenwine at his blog, Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme.
Nix the comfort zone 
“terrifying fragility.” Yes. That’s what my hope’s encased in these days, too.
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#truth
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Dear Molly, that’s exactly what hope is! Thank you. xo
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[…] Nix the Comfort Zone, Molly Hogan also shares her response to the Inklings’ […]
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Eggs = HopeHope = EggsPerfect response to the challenge, Molly!
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Thanks, Matt! Also, thanks again for hosting this week!
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So many wonderful word choices in this small poem, exquisite, terrifying fragility. A dosage of hope from a cluster of eggs.
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Thanks, Margaret. It was hard to chose from the pictures that Catherine sent! Such a great prompt–thanks for it!
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I’ve often marveled at how egg shells are strong enough to contain new life while being so physically fragile. Your poem nails it — beautifully written. 🙂
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Thanks, Jama. It is a marvel, isn’t it?!
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Nature is the ultimate source of hope, isn’t it? Some of the most fragile-seeming things, like an egg shell, can surprise us with their strength and resilience. Nature finds a way, and perhaps, so can we.
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When I’m feeling lost, Nature definitely helps me find a way!
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Molly, there is something special about this poem. It has great word choice, such as: Exquisite promisecradled in terrifying fragility.
I would love to see what happes next.
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Thanks, Carol. There was something so tenderly vulnerable to me about this cluster of eggs!
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Oh I love “terrifying fragility” of hope — but what a perfect match –and the visual metaphor of the eggs…I can see why you wrote to this image. Thank you, Molly.
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Thanks, Patricia! I love writing poems in response to images and those three eggs really “spoke” to me!
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Your poem is exquisite, Molly. “Terrifying fragility” is exactly right!
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Which came first, the image or the poem? lol Thanks for sending such a great selection of poems. I was hard pressed to chose amongst them!
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What a good pair you are…Catherine’s photo has the perfect subject for “exquisite hope.” This challenge was so fun. I’m amazed at the responses.
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Images are a lovely prompt and canvas for poems 🙂
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Oh that “exquisite promise”! Love that!
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Thanks, Marcie! I love birds so much, but don’t often think about that vulnerable egg stage.
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Molly! I love that poem!!
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Thanks so much, Ana! I’ve been really enjoying your posts on TWT. Go, you!
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Oh Molly, what a beautiful poem! Excellent word choices –
hope, exquisite promise cradled, terrifying fragility. Love it!
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Thanks, Gail!
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“I do have reasons for hope: our clever brains, the resilience of nature, the indomitable human spirit, and above all, the commitment of young people when they’re empowered to take action.”— Jane Goodall
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