Today’s prompt: Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.
When I first read this prompt, I thought it said “a photo you have taken,” and I thought that was going to be a tough sift. I only took about 13,000 pictures this year. Good thing I looked again. Finding a photo of me was easy. There have been maybe four total taken this year. I try not to be in front of the camera if at all possible.
The picture shown above was taken by David Black. The setting is my family land on Black Creek. I chose the backdrop of an abandoned camper trailer for the shot because I wanted it to say something real about me. It says I’m kind of a redneck. That’s what I was going for.
I’m using this on a book cover for a poetry collection. Nothing is more artsy fartsy than poetry. It has no commercial value. It only has aesthetic and intellectual value. But as my friend says, “Put intellectual value in one hand, and a dollar in the other, and see which one buys you a Coke at the Quick Stop.”
So I guess what I want to say is this. To me poetry is essential to life. It is necessary to any kind of life we might call civilized. But at the same time, if you think too highly of yourself for writing it, you’ve probably lost all sense of reason.
Some of my family members thought this picture was hilarious and some thought it was embarrassing. I think they hoped I would class up the poetry a little bit more. But there’s no denying that’s where I come from. That’s who I am. There wouldn’t be any poetry in me to write if there hadn’t first been the woods for me to stomp around in.
My only real regret about this particular shot is that the trailer is a little too nice.
so glad you shared this. here’s to stomping around in the woods and the poetry that follows.
Thanks. And thanks for the prompt as well!