The sun
has climbed much higher
in the blistering biosphere
until the
elastic sky is far too close.
Prostrate on caramel sand,
I burn.
Kim M. Russell, 1st August 2024

Image by Leio McLaren on Unsplash
I’m a little late for the What’s Going On? prompt this week, a bit like making a cameo appearance for Sumana’s challenge. I enjoyed reading about the history of the cameo, which is also a poetry form, new to me, and I’m excited to try it.
Sumana tells us that it is an unrhymed poem invented by English poet Alice Spokes, with seven lines and 2-5-8-3-8-7-2 syllables per line, for a total of 35 syllables, and it is brief, so we should write poems that are either character based or about anything that has a brief but impactful appearance. Our example is a poem about a cameo brooch, by Catie Rosemurgy.
I’ve been playing around with an old poem in different forms, and I thought it might fit the prompt. I’m not a sunbather, I prefer the shade, but I did try it once, and suffered from sunburn and sunstroke, in a very short time. I’m hoping that comes across in the poem.
Yes, it certainly does come across Kim!
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Thanks Kim!
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Great pacing, and I love “elastic sky”.
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Thank you very much!
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“Elastic sky” – love that!
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Thank you, Rajani!
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Sunburns and sunstrokes are terrible.
I like how you describe the sky as elastic. You wrote such a lovely cameo ☺️
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Thank you, Aboli.
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You’re welcome ❤️
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“the elastic sky is far too close.” What a surprise to find this evocative image. Perfect!
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Thank you, Susan.
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The sun is too dangerous sometimes. ‘Never Again’ is the right decision. Smiles. I also love the image ‘elastic sky’.
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Thanks Sumana.
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I agree with everyone who likes ‘elastic sky.’ Your poem worked very well as a cameo. And alas, I used to lie in the sun to try to tan as well, even used sun tan OIL. Can you imagine? How foolish we were in those ‘old days.’
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Thank you, Mary. I remember people smearing themselves with olive oil – yikes!
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Wow, kudos on using the form so effectively. An awesome cameo.
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Thank you very much, Sherry.
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A dead-on cameo of blistering earth and skin. Love “caramel sand” especially.
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Thanks Dora.
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Nice write kim. Living near the beach now i know what you speak of
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Cheers Eric!
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“prostrate on caramel sand”…..I love the assonance and the noise of this line! All those ‘A’s’ and ‘R’ s.
JIM
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Thank you, Jim!
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