Canon 5D Mark II, Landscape, Poetry
by Patrick Jennings

Before ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #190

Old Sound, Britannia Beach, Howe Sound, British Columbia, Canada
I float
Gently
Back in time

To an age before
This silence of spirit
And its sorrows
These days of hardness
And slight assurances

Back to a time
Of no small beauty
When time itself
Came in an abundance
Applied to the creation
Of wondrous things
While wonder was divinely inspired

Meaning was no fleeting connection
And purpose a life’s rendition

Before profit and growth and ROI
Became ends and means and purpose

A time long before
The remains of this pier
Were ever a pier
Before ever a ship
Sailed these waters
Before any European left the shores
Of a land not yet named Europe

Gently floating
I let waves and bird song
Dominate the frantic race
Of engines on the highway behind me
Breathe the ocean deeply in
Exhale millennia of progress

For a moment, at least
I exist in a time before
All that I am
Was ever possible

Can I let this self die
This day
Allow a time before
To lead me
To a time that follows

Old Sound
Britannia Beach
Howe Sound
Sea to Sky Highway
British Columbia, Canada, 2016
Last week we found the Quiet. This week… let’s explore Before, or find something else to inspire you in this photograph of of the lonely pilings of a long lost pier in Howe Sound, British Columbia, Canada.

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: Quiet
Night Owls, Bar Mendizabal, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain copy
Challenge #189 ~ Quiet
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #189 was Quiet, along with this photograph of three lone souls gathered at Bar Mendizábal in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter.

Seven bloggers found their Quiet 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!