I just discovered a strangely lovely blog that encourages people to create a poem weekly, using 12 words given for that week. Give it a whirl. (Yea, that's right, I went there.)
http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/
Here's my first attempt. (Required words in italics.)
The Conversation
In vain, words attempt to break
the surface. The father
contemplates speaking:
stands, sits, stands again, spectacles on,
spectacles off.
One thin branch from a leafless tree
scratches against the window,
in a rhythm the daughter has caught.
Words start silently beating,
dotting her young heart. At 16,
she can easily make this music
to dance to still
Outside, under the frozen surface of the lake
nestled between dormant fields,
there is life, reeling
in pleasure in the broad depths,
in a womb unknown
to the cold, crisp winter surrounding it.
A resolution is made.
“You’re too young.”
