#30DaysWild, Day 4 - The Glow of Emerald Light Photo Challenges

Where have the weeks and months gone since the start of lockdown? I am finding it hard to get my head around the fact that we are already a few days into June. The longest day is less than three weeks away.

Unfortunately the threat of Covid-19 is still at hand, but we are becoming accustomed to the rigours of extra hand-washing and the need for social distance.

Back in early April the lie of the land was rather different, and I recognised my need for natural beauty amid the bleakness of the situation. That was where The Glow of Emerald Light came in. In response to local requests for some kind of poetry activity or competition, I decided to run a fortnightly Photo Challenge, inviting anyone of eighteen years or over to submit a 5-line poem, written in response to a 'natural world' photo prompt.

I very much hoped that those who write poetry would join in and that those who would not normally sit down to pen a poem would take an extended coffee break and have a go. The Photo Challenges have submission windows: they are not, in fact, competitions.

I am enjoying the task of selecting pictures from my photo library on Light Room. I have been delighted with the submissions I have received to date, and it has been good to see poets offering a mix of free verse and traditional five-line forms like the Tanka or Limerick.

Challenge 1 came with a photograph of two Peacock Butterflies. You can find the poems here.

Challenge 2, on the theme of 'wash', was accompanied by a picture of waves on Loch Scavaig: the poems written in response to this are here.

Challenge 3 with my favourite bird can be found here.

Challenge 4 has just been posted (here), and is perhaps the picture most open to interpretation.

I am so grateful to all those who have engaged with an aspect of the natural world by responding to these challenges so far. The Photo Challenge email is glowofemeraldlight@gmail.com. It gives me great pleasure when I click open the inbox and find a new submission with a five-line poem that will add its own unique glimmer of light to the landscape of these unprecedented days.