Images from poetry – a collection of phrases

Some time ago – probably six or seven years back – when I was in the earlier stages of learning to write, I collected phrases from poetry. Maybe I thought they’d be useful one day. And indeed, I have dipped into these and others from time to time.

Image source: yourdictionary.com

On many occasions, I have stopped writing in order to give my brain a reset. Often a poem helps me think differently or jolts me out of the plodding process of laying down sentences.

So I offer this small collection to you as glimmers for your imagination. Enjoy.

• moth-like stars were flickering
• guests of one another’s senses
• where moonlight burned
• solitudes of being
• the mud where the dead lie down for long naps
• the breeze in its listlessness
• wrapped in a scented linen sheet
• tumult in the clouds
• caught in the sensual music
• she glittered when she walked
• a fire was in her head
• faded through the brightening air
• life’s rough and tumble
• life’s death and duty
• tides of the soul
• moon wrapped in faded cloud
• sunlight embraced the earth
• honour turned to dust
• the whirring edge of night
• clouds stooped from heaven
• pearls of morning dew
• sweet, silent thought
• night illuminated with a thousand eyes
• the certainty of tides
• hands hotter than fire
• April rain solaced the parched
• the pause of night
• over them the swallows skimmed
• shoulders falling down like teardrops
• on the coast the light gleams and is gone
• the cliffs stand, glimmering and vast
• the grating road of pebbles which the waves draw back
• tremulous cadence
• eternal note of sadness sounding
• ebb and flow of misery
• breath of the night-wind
• lonely like a cloud floating far from the pack
• deep, dazzling darkness
• landscape emerging from the mist
• her mouth enriched the smile her eyes began
• time creeping like a snail
• wild nights their only luxury

That’s enough for one post. I’d love to know if you have any favourites!

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY 

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel is THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, a dual timeline set in Hong Kong. Mary’s other novels, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.