vox poetica
prompts
Because we all need a creative push from time to time and amazing things happen when great pictures inspire great words! Art will be posted here for your inspiration, so look, write the poem you're spurred to write, and submit it here: prompts@voxpoetica.com (please include your name and the city where you write). Selected submissions will be posted here and the art will change from time to time (timing will depend on how much prompt writing you talented people can tolerate) so check in often to see what's been written and what the next picture looks like. Here's the first poem inspired by this photograph. Write your own and add another dimension.
Photo: Candy Shop in Belgium, by Bridget Fahey O'Brien, 2009
Nirvana
By Annmarie Lockhart
This is not your
run-of-the-mill
candy store,
not the place
to pocket M&Ms,
Skittles, Dots,
or Juicyfruit.
This is a spun-sugar
temple where
fairies paint
stripes of sweet
on sticky pastel
licks of heaven
and chocolate,
caramel, and
marshmallow
pillows beckon
you dreamward.
The Candy Shop
By Jeanette Cheezum
Her nose pressed to the window, puppy at her side.
Passersby gave a glance and walked on. She wanted
to partake of those beautiful chocolates, but she knew she
need not try.
Look at how they glisten in the afternoon light, with
sprinkles of hard candies circling to tease the palate--why
did she torture herself with desires to eat them all?
Was it because she'd never tasted the delight of sugar?
Like a Kid in a Candy Shop
By Ray Sharp
Loving you
is like a Whitman Sampler
The temptation
the careful appraisal
The unhurried choosing
the slow unwrapping
The taking to my lips
the rolling around my tongue
The melting in my mouth
and on my hands
The tasting
the devouring
The pleasure
the drowsy sated feeling
And the rising desire
for another bite
Candy's Shop
By Mark Gooch
During the day
children visit in droves
peering at displays
of sweet chocolate
and suckers galore.
But as night approaches
a stranger draws near,
produces a key
(candy-covered for sure),
enters the store,
walks past the treats
to the room in back
where the sweet surprise
on the bed awaits
and the room is filled
with the scent of sugar.
He will later declare
she's as sweet as her name.
Candy's Shop
is a candy shop
and the sweetest part
is when Candy
waits for you.
Sugar-Free?
By Jimmi Ware-Phillips
He gave me Hershey Kisses
granted sweet wishes
it felt delicious
like a box of chocolate
our love is decadent
rich with flavor
moments we savor
it's evident
we reinvented the kiss
which was once French
tasted the rainbow
so intense
he can call me sugar
if need be
his sweetness is my weakness
don't want to be free
he is smoother than aged brandy
delectable eye candy
where is this goody jar
I speak of?
Somewhere between the milky way
and our tasty love!
Charlie Bucket's Lucky Day
By Grace Burns
The shoppers take little notice
of the gaunt boy
with the dirty blonde hair
and the sunken, chocolate brown eyes
as he stares, transfixed,
through the window of the Candy Shoppe
at the technicolor array
of sweet delights.
He turns away
to trudge home
feeling the heavy load
of his school books
pull at his shoulder blades.
Charlie! Look down!
What is that fluttering
at the base of the street lamp?
A pound note! A quid!
He snatches it up.
His family needs this badly.
His father has no job and
the house is in disrepair.
Charlie! Turn around!
Your Wonka Bar is waiting!
The shoppers take little notice
of the gaunt boy
with the dirty blonde hair
and the sparkling, chocolate brown eyes
as he eagerly approaches
the counter of the Candy Shoppe.
Good Ship, Bad Trip
By Mark Myers
So bright and clear in sunlight
It hurts my eyes
With its sweet crystal clarity
Shirley Temple stops singing long enough to scream at me:
You're too poor for a dentist!
You must live with the pain!
Bad decisions in my youth
Have obscured the view
And left me searching for sledge hammers
The Candy Shop Blues
By James G Piatt
Candy imaginings and sugared dreams
Flow into my hungry self-consciousness
Like a hummingbird greedily sips honey
Scents of chocolate and cherry Bordeaux
Sneak silently into my sugary notions
Of pleasant thoughts of caramel candy
Acrid nightmares of darkness disappear
In the candy shop where neon lights and
Peppermint candy delights vibrantly dwell
In my sensations of syrupy fragrances
And delicious dark chocolate laced aromas
Dreams of succulent sugared mints survive
Oh to dwell in the land of such pleasant things
Is beyond the ravenous dreams of a man
Whose sore finger is pin pricked daily
And where tiny drops of blood tell
The story of why such tasty treats
Are far beyond his sweet desires
Neon Fantasy
By William Wooding
Kaleidoscope of crystal halls,
Lemon drops and gum balls,
Chocolate-covered peanuts and ants,
Lollipops in jars at every glance.
Sugar fantasy to a child's delight,
Isles of peppermint sticks,
Licorice,
Bon bons,
Dance under red neon lights.
Fire balls,
Jaw breakers,
Caramel corn shelved on top,
A sweet crystal cathedral,
In a Belgium candy shop.
Melting Moments
By Clarissa McFairy
Tastebud titillation
tiptoes along the tongue
trying not to break
into a tango of delight
Sweet sensuality
in tutu wrappings
beckons from behind
the glass
Shimmers and shows
its twinkly toes
And between its folds
a blushing rose
When shall tongue of fire
and meringue-a-tang-tangs
meet
and dance cheek-to-cheek
A melting moment
where tastes and colours
and fire fuse
and fizz and
Temptation
stalks once more
as someone new
walks through the door
The Candy Store
By Robert CJ Graves
Pink neons diffused through glass walls
like a celestial wrapping, like the hallelujah
pink of my wife's panties. And inside,
through the ethereal opening in the pink
gossamer walls, is What One Wants:
Pleasure.
Something sweet.
Something to lick.
Something to eat.
The lusty fertility of sugar
all decked in diffused pink.
Sweet Love
By Marla Deschenes
We will meet here in the softest sunshine
And we will kiss in front of sugar spun to gold.
Enter a world of glistening hope and rows of inviting pink,
Follow your eyes to the treats, and
Hand me a lollipop with a youthful heart.
Our fingers will touch and we will laugh
We will remember the lost innocence of childhood,
The rush of first love and forgotten romantic notions.
Bathed in the twinkling neon glow
We will forget the binds that tie to rationality.
We will twirl and fill our pockets with memories that dance on the tongue.
And we will walk back through the windowed doors into the sunshine.
We will kiss in front of sugar spun to gold.
Nirvana
By Annmarie Lockhart
This is not your
run-of-the-mill
candy store,
not the place
to pocket M&Ms,
Skittles, Dots,
or Juicyfruit.
This is a spun-sugar
temple where
fairies paint
stripes of sweet
on sticky pastel
licks of heaven
and chocolate,
caramel, and
marshmallow
pillows beckon
you dreamward.
The Candy Shop
By Jeanette Cheezum
Her nose pressed to the window, puppy at her side.
Passersby gave a glance and walked on. She wanted
to partake of those beautiful chocolates, but she knew she
need not try.
Look at how they glisten in the afternoon light, with
sprinkles of hard candies circling to tease the palate--why
did she torture herself with desires to eat them all?
Was it because she'd never tasted the delight of sugar?
Like a Kid in a Candy Shop
By Ray Sharp
Loving you
is like a Whitman Sampler
The temptation
the careful appraisal
The unhurried choosing
the slow unwrapping
The taking to my lips
the rolling around my tongue
The melting in my mouth
and on my hands
The tasting
the devouring
The pleasure
the drowsy sated feeling
And the rising desire
for another bite
Candy's Shop
By Mark Gooch
During the day
children visit in droves
peering at displays
of sweet chocolate
and suckers galore.
But as night approaches
a stranger draws near,
produces a key
(candy-covered for sure),
enters the store,
walks past the treats
to the room in back
where the sweet surprise
on the bed awaits
and the room is filled
with the scent of sugar.
He will later declare
she's as sweet as her name.
Candy's Shop
is a candy shop
and the sweetest part
is when Candy
waits for you.
Sugar-Free?
By Jimmi Ware-Phillips
He gave me Hershey Kisses
granted sweet wishes
it felt delicious
like a box of chocolate
our love is decadent
rich with flavor
moments we savor
it's evident
we reinvented the kiss
which was once French
tasted the rainbow
so intense
he can call me sugar
if need be
his sweetness is my weakness
don't want to be free
he is smoother than aged brandy
delectable eye candy
where is this goody jar
I speak of?
Somewhere between the milky way
and our tasty love!
Charlie Bucket's Lucky Day
By Grace Burns
The shoppers take little notice
of the gaunt boy
with the dirty blonde hair
and the sunken, chocolate brown eyes
as he stares, transfixed,
through the window of the Candy Shoppe
at the technicolor array
of sweet delights.
He turns away
to trudge home
feeling the heavy load
of his school books
pull at his shoulder blades.
Charlie! Look down!
What is that fluttering
at the base of the street lamp?
A pound note! A quid!
He snatches it up.
His family needs this badly.
His father has no job and
the house is in disrepair.
Charlie! Turn around!
Your Wonka Bar is waiting!
The shoppers take little notice
of the gaunt boy
with the dirty blonde hair
and the sparkling, chocolate brown eyes
as he eagerly approaches
the counter of the Candy Shoppe.
Good Ship, Bad Trip
By Mark Myers
So bright and clear in sunlight
It hurts my eyes
With its sweet crystal clarity
Shirley Temple stops singing long enough to scream at me:
You're too poor for a dentist!
You must live with the pain!
Bad decisions in my youth
Have obscured the view
And left me searching for sledge hammers
The Candy Shop Blues
By James G Piatt
Candy imaginings and sugared dreams
Flow into my hungry self-consciousness
Like a hummingbird greedily sips honey
Scents of chocolate and cherry Bordeaux
Sneak silently into my sugary notions
Of pleasant thoughts of caramel candy
Acrid nightmares of darkness disappear
In the candy shop where neon lights and
Peppermint candy delights vibrantly dwell
In my sensations of syrupy fragrances
And delicious dark chocolate laced aromas
Dreams of succulent sugared mints survive
Oh to dwell in the land of such pleasant things
Is beyond the ravenous dreams of a man
Whose sore finger is pin pricked daily
And where tiny drops of blood tell
The story of why such tasty treats
Are far beyond his sweet desires
Neon Fantasy
By William Wooding
Kaleidoscope of crystal halls,
Lemon drops and gum balls,
Chocolate-covered peanuts and ants,
Lollipops in jars at every glance.
Sugar fantasy to a child's delight,
Isles of peppermint sticks,
Licorice,
Bon bons,
Dance under red neon lights.
Fire balls,
Jaw breakers,
Caramel corn shelved on top,
A sweet crystal cathedral,
In a Belgium candy shop.
Melting Moments
By Clarissa McFairy
Tastebud titillation
tiptoes along the tongue
trying not to break
into a tango of delight
Sweet sensuality
in tutu wrappings
beckons from behind
the glass
Shimmers and shows
its twinkly toes
And between its folds
a blushing rose
When shall tongue of fire
and meringue-a-tang-tangs
meet
and dance cheek-to-cheek
A melting moment
where tastes and colours
and fire fuse
and fizz and
Temptation
stalks once more
as someone new
walks through the door
The Candy Store
By Robert CJ Graves
Pink neons diffused through glass walls
like a celestial wrapping, like the hallelujah
pink of my wife's panties. And inside,
through the ethereal opening in the pink
gossamer walls, is What One Wants:
Pleasure.
Something sweet.
Something to lick.
Something to eat.
The lusty fertility of sugar
all decked in diffused pink.
Sweet Love
By Marla Deschenes
We will meet here in the softest sunshine
And we will kiss in front of sugar spun to gold.
Enter a world of glistening hope and rows of inviting pink,
Follow your eyes to the treats, and
Hand me a lollipop with a youthful heart.
Our fingers will touch and we will laugh
We will remember the lost innocence of childhood,
The rush of first love and forgotten romantic notions.
Bathed in the twinkling neon glow
We will forget the binds that tie to rationality.
We will twirl and fill our pockets with memories that dance on the tongue.
And we will walk back through the windowed doors into the sunshine.
We will kiss in front of sugar spun to gold.
