Freedom ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #236

Caged Bird is a poem by Maya Angelou. I’m thinking you’ll read mine differently if you’ve read hers, and learn a little about who she is, and the experiences which informed her writing of it. It’s one of the more powerful poems you’ll ever read.

Normally I let people interpret my poems as they will, but here I will be crystal clear on one point.

Air Force pilots fly in pairs, called a “flight”, consisting of a lead and a wingman. The wingman flies off the lead’s right wing, and slightly behind. In combat, it is as implied: a supporting role. The lead has command of the flight. The wingman is there to watch for threats to the flight while the lead engages, and to add additional fire power when called for.

Pic and a Word Challenge

Last week we were all invited to have a Rant. This week, take flight with Freedom, or find something else to inspire you in this photograph of a caged fighter plane in the Museu de les Ciències, Valencia, Spain.

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

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.