Cold, chiseled
A frosty burn to the touch
Which not even the fire
Of his desire
Could melt
It protected him
It destroyed him
It hardened him
It betrayed him
For anyone could see
Just below the surface
The heat his coldness
Would never emit
2019
Pic and a Word Challenge
Last week we looked to the Future. This week let’s chill like Ice, or seek something else to inspire you in this photograph of a glass bust.
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: Future

The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #260 was Future, along with this photograph of Badwater Road as it leaves Death Valley National Park, stage left, in California, USA.
View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.
Happy Creating!