Capilano River, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Landscape, Poetry, Samsung Galaxy Note 1
by Patrick Jennings

Channel ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #59

Sometimes
The circumstances of existence
Confine my course
Constrict my flow
I become turbulent
Tear at the channel
Jump its banks
Flood, destructively
Without direction

So I breathe
Quiet the roiling torrent
Of my mind
Still the restless energy
Of my body
Let the tumultuous river
Of my attachments
Subside
Become a stream
A gentle brook
Winding serenely
Through the forest
Collecting here and there
In pools of tranquility
Stillness

For I am the channel
Of my being
Not the circumstances
Of my existence

Springtime High Water
Capilano River
North Vancouver, British Columbia

Taken on location for Primeval: New World, 2012

Last week we we did some healing Healing. This week? Let’s channel our thoughts, or change the channel, or channel some greater wisdom… or, find something else in this image of the Capilano River flowing through North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sunday mornings.

Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.

To participate:

  • Use any title you like
  • Your response can be words and/or an image
  • You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
  • Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
  • Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
  • Add a link to this post in your response

To help us find your response, you can also:

Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.

Last week’s challenge: Healing
The Nirvan of Shakyamuni Buddha, Giant Buddha Temple, Zhangye, Gansu Province, China
Challenge #58 ~ Healing
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #58 was Healing, along with this photograph of colourful sand and sandstone at the base of a Bryce Canyon hoodoo in Utah..

Two wonderful healers this week. Thank you both! =)

View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.