Ponds of Possibility

- Rene Magritte

We need enchantment, fun, and wonder in life and in our poetry. Why not incorporate elements that mix illusion with the every day life? Let unlikely images collide. Weave dreams with logic. We can get our imaginative motors going by reading science fiction or fantasy and observing the elements in surreal painting.

Andre Breton felt dreams can open us to a “superior reality.” His ideas created a definition of surreal. Or what he termed, “psychic automation.” He encouraged free writing to discover the connections.

Rene Magritte created a variety of subjects this way. He painted a rock suspended over the sea, fish people on a rock, a locomotive coming out of the chimney under a clock.

Leap into ponds of possibility by trying out new muscles in your writing. Search for untouched areas you have never explored.  Move beyond the regular, expected and known imagery.  Shift your probabilities.  Color an alternative reality.


The Color Blue

What if
midmorning sky
sneaks into café tableware
tricked by the color blue.
Clouds dance on plates
grazing the toast and jelly
like newborn lovers
whose toes never
touch the earth
until familiarity
vacuums the crumbs
sending clouds back
to where
they are supposed
to belong.
                 - Penny Wilkes

Push logic and reason aside. Let your subconscious mind or dreams provide a playground. Connect objects and notions that you would not expect to see together.