cold
wind
sun falls
like a poet’s first words
illumination lacking warmth
so I shiver
wrapped in a blanket of silence
broken only by the wind
bending the tall grass
rapt in a solitude
broken only by gulls on the wing
bending the air to their whim
Time Exposure
Virgin River, Netflix, 2020
Pic and a Word Challenge
Last week we found connection in Touching. This week let’s find comfort in our Solitude, or seek something else to inspire you in this photograph of Goose Lake in New Pine Creek, Oregon, USA.
The Pic and a Word Challenge is (usually) 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.
The previous challenge was: Touching

The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #256 was Touching, along with this abstract time exposure of a woman on some random Netflix show.
View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.
Happy Creating!