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Thursday, April 25, 2019

Kerry Says ~ Let's Be Imagists!

The Sea and it's Raining. I Missed You So Much
Artist: Wura-Natasha Ogunji
33rd Bienal de São Paulo
Photograph: Kenia Santos


“The point is that you start with any image … Contemplate it and carefully observe how the picture begins to unfold or to change. Don’t try to make it into something, just do nothing but observe what its spontaneous changes are. Any mental picture you contemplate in this way will sooner or later change through a spontaneous association that causes a slight alteration of the picture. You must carefully avoid impatient jumping from one subject to another. Hold fast to the one image you have chosen and wait until it changes by itself. Note all these changes and eventually step into the picture yourself, and if it is a speaking figure at all then say what you have to say to that figure and listen to what he or she has to say.” ~ C.G. Jung


The Sea and it's Raining. I Missed You So Much
Artist: Wura-Natasha Ogunji
33rd Bienal de São Paulo
Photograph: Kenia Santos


Imagism was born in England and America in the early Twentieth Century. A reactionary movement against Romanticism and Victorian poetry, Imagism emphasized simplicity, clarity of expression, and precision through the use of exacting visual images. The movement was rooted in ideas first developed by English philosopher and poet T. E. Hulme, who, as early as 1908, spoke of poetry based on an absolutely accurate presentation of its subject, with no excess verbiage. [Source]

The challenge for today's poem is to follow the advice of Carl Jung: "The point is you start with any image..." and tell us what it has to say to you. Remember the key points of simplicity, clarity and precision.

Kenia Santos kindly allowed me to use her photos from her visit to the 33rd Bienal de Sao Paulo, as well as this link to a video clip on Facebook, which features this Contemporary Artwork by Wura-Natasha Ogunji. If you use an image on your blog, please use the accreditation used beneath the picture. If you display the image on Instagram please tag @kenia.cs. Kenia blogs at An Exercise in Existing





15 comments:

  1. I am so behind on commenting and reading... sorry for that... and tonight it's a concert.

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  2. Loved the prompt, Kerry!💞 I just came home 😊 will be around to read and comment in few minutes 💞☕

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  3. Love it, Kerry and super-love seeing Kenia in the Garden!!

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  4. Looking forward to reading all the beauty made from this beauty.

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  5. Well I tried Jung's method and it worked. I vaguely recall an imagist poem by H.D. where something similar happened, but I arrived at mine for myself, I promise.

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  6. I looked and saw and looked some more and saw a ...
    This was fun, I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so I sat on the edge of the bed (again) and ginned up my vision. As I looked I wrote using my Galaxy Android smart phone.
    ..

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  7. Greetings to all! I am extra happy with this prompt idea which came from Kenia's sharing of her photos of this exceptional piece. I am also running behind in my comments but will get to all links today or tomorrow.

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  8. I imagined more what was behind the rain, than rain itself.

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  9. Greetings all! Wonderful thought provoking prompt Kerry- thank you.

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  10. Love the prompt, love the photos, don't love what I wrote. Running out of poetic steam.

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  11. I will see what I can do, and I will try not to blatantly rip off any famous poems/poets.

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  12. https://violetslentz.home.blog/2019/04/26/our-lady/

    Hi Kerry, I am posting a link here instead of joining the link up because, while I loved the prompt, I was unable to follow it to the letter and used a photo of my own.. I really enjoy the prompts you offer over here and thank you for this venue fill to the brim with wonderful poets!

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  13. As I visit all the other entrants, I am noticing not everyone used your photo, so maybe I am not so far off base. I'll go ahead and link if that is alright with you.

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  14. My thanks to all who participated in this challenge. I enjoyed the responses very much indeed.

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Much time and effort went into this post! Your feedback is appreciated.