Landscape, Poetry, Samsung Galaxy S5
by Patrick Jennings

Stillness ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #167

Stillness, Howe Sound, Porteau Cove Provincial Park, Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada
On some unseen horizon
Beyond my peace of mind
Where shadows play
In savage grey
And hope has not yet
Even hope

No flutter on the water
No ripple in the wind
No fish or whale
To breech the sea
No gull on wing
To cry the air alive
No colour falls to eye

In this world
Of nothingness
In stillness
Drifted I

Aboard a ship
No sails were set
Devoid of all intent
My mind awash
In listless thought
No acts of love
From feckless heart

Yet all the while
And deep below
This ship becalmed
My spirit spare
A current
Ran unseen

It swirled
And tossed
It mustered
Forces unbeknown
Which bubbled to the top

Until one day
Of dourest grey
A potent fury rose

It swelled the sea
It lifted me
It drove my ship
Through listless light
First into night
There in the darkness
Found my fight
Wrestled with
The angry sea
Set the sails
To wind’s fury

I broke the waves
Against the tides
And current swell
Fought to follow
Guiding stars
Tacked hard
To keep course
Into wind

Until the dawn
And twilight’s call
In eastern light
The storm reduced
To lesser squall

Escaped from grey
Through black and light
Now indigo
Has broken night
As the storm
At last abates
Leaving just enough
To fill the sails
As I roll through
The gentle swells

Now violet and lavender
And on their heels
My favoured amber
Which precedes the sun
Now rising over
Islands green
Where storm’s diminished fury
Lashes rocks
I find passage through
To sheltered beach
On which to land
And set afoot

Here am I
On solid ground
My spirit soars
My heart takes wing
Hope abounds
For everything

Stillness
Howe Sound
Porteau Cove Provincial Park
Sea to Sky Highway
British Columbia, Canada, 2016
Last week we ran our fingers across lush Texture. This week, let`s come to rest with Stillness or find something else to inspire you in this photograph of Howe Sound’s grey stillness along British Columbia, Canada’s fabled Sea to Sky Highway.

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

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 images
  • You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
  • 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 — whether on WordPress, Instagram, Flicker, Tumblr, etc. — you can also:

  • Add a comment on this post to announce your response
  • Apply the tag/hashtag “Pic and a Word Challenge” or “#picandawordchallenge” to your post

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: Texture
Vibrant Greys, Britannia Beach, Howe Sound, Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada
Challenge #166 ~ Texture
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #166 was Texture, along with this this photograph of an old pier’s lingering pilings along the grey shores of Howe Sound, British Columbia, Canada.

Eight bloggers felt the Texture this week. Thank you, everyone! ❤

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

Happy Creating!