Watched
with
arms outstretched
the oak
with boughs and
branches
shadowplays the moon
in black swan
arabesque.
Oak tree in the snow by Caspar David Friedrich
Today at dVerse MTB Victoria want us to write Imagist poetry inspired by William Carlos Williams, Hilda Doolittle and Ezra Pound among others. The rules are as follows:
• Direct treatment of the “thing” whether subjective or objective.
• To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
• As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the metronome.
I do not know if I met the bar… Hope to meet you there at 3 PM EST.
—
January 28, 2016
Björn Rudbergs writings 
For you, I guess we should raise the bar, Bjorn. Crisp descriptions that put me right there. Thank you.
Quite lovely!
This is stunning. My word, man. I love this. Write me a million more, please. Those last two lines … and the abruptly clipped lines. So effective. If you would post a poem every hour, I’d be here waiting.
So, soothing and peaceful.
You always do an amazing job of pairing your poetry with a perfect picture. I’m looking forward to reading Victoria’s prompt and seeing if I can do it some sort of justice.
Lovely, Bjorn. — Suzanne
Stunning in its brevity, clarity & imagery; Prompt sound a bit difficult, but will give it a go.
I love the final three lines in particular, Bjorn 🙂
I’m going to use a silly word but it feels apropos. This is glorious. Because truly it is.
Lyrical and lovely! Beautiful to read aloud.
Also a new picture for me by CDF, that remarkable artist.
I think that you did a marvelous job, Bjorn! This style is harder than it looks!
This is beautiful, Bjorn!
“in black swan
arabesque.”
— Man, this simply takes my breath away.
I like this so much. So simple and yet so full of imagery without a lot of extra “stuff” added. Less is truly more in this.
I am glad I did not read yours first! Effective imagery, strongly worded; with an excellent illustration to boot!
It does have the feel of Japanese poetry. That calm present moment. Very Zen!
Your poetry is so mature and amazing. Loved how this “did”. Such a fine poem.
I love the line ‘shadow plays the moon.’ It seems so perfect in this piece.
Short, but full of impact, loved it!
This is such a powerful write 😀 Kudos
“in black swan arabesque”…just perfect! Love the branches of that oak against the sky…a stunning painting.
“in black swan arabesque:”–such a creative description of the mighty oak stripped bare in winter. Perfect, Bjorn.
Black swan arabesque! That’s inspired!
Less is definitely more! The words you chose painted a vivid picture in no time.
I love the word “Arabesque”…since childhood’s ballet lessons to the movie with Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck. This is brief but magical.
I love the way the oak is totally static in its arabesque!
what perfection, as always…
…shadowplays the moon in black swan arabesque.. STUNNING!
This is lovely. Great imagery!
Absolutely lovely. I like your description of the tree; you’re making an inanimate object dance. 🙂
Even if you hadn’t included the picture, your words would have conjured an almost identical picture in my mind, albeit with a moon in the background. 🙂 Peace, Linda
Gorgeous! Especially the black Swan arabesque.
Beautiful poem, Bjorn! Just wondering if it fits “imagery” better than “imagist”? The black swan arabesque seems like metaphor to me…
I think you are right.. but when I read a few imagist poets.. I saw that the use of metaphor was pretty common… and when I squinted my eyes I think the oak might actually be a ballerina…
A little bit like the petals on the bow in Ezra Pound’s description of the commuter’s faces….
Ooooo… what an intense image this reflects!
Exquisite. Lovely and succinct … yet, oh so delicately woven.