Poetry, Theme Prompt, Writing Prompts

Silent and Slow

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night
hosted by Sanaa. My poem is inspired by the
opening line of Sandburg’s poem, “Fog”.
Here’s where the inspiration took me.

Image by Me & Gemini

The fog comes in on little cat feet,
through gothic arches, down cobblestone streets,
past portraits that whisper and candles that lean,
past doors with no houses and stairs with no dreams.

She has walked through the centuries, silent and slow,
through cities of marble and cities of snow,
through hallways of mansions where no one remains,
through gardens of moonlight and forgotten names.

The candles bow down as she passes them by,
the portraits lean closer, the mist breathes a sigh,
the staircases spiral to nowhere and back,
and everything golden turns silver then black.

She carries the secrets of all that is still,
the hush of the valley, the hush of the hill,
the things that go quiet at midnight’s first breath,
the beautiful border between life and death.

She sits in the mist with her lantern-bright eyes,
watching the fog as it slowly replies
“I came here for you, little keeper of night,
now safeguard these shadows till morning brings light.”

NAR©2026

This is “Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart

Open Link Night #407 with Live Edition

Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.

27 thoughts on “Silent and Slow”

      1. Cats have good night vision because they have a reflective layer behind the retina (tapetum lucidum) that acts as a mirror, a high concentration of rod cells, and pupils that dilate into large, full circles (the headlight eyes that you mentioned).

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    1. Thank you so very much for your complementary and enthusiastic comments, Björn! I must confess, I had to look up the meaning of “anapestic”. My poetry is inspired only by my imagination and what sounds good. This one is a perfect example. I guess you can call me ‘The Accidental Poet’! 😊

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  7. My new favourite poem of yours, Nancy – and thank you for the blast of Al Stewart – I haven’t heard that song in a while. I especially love the Gothic flavour of this poem, enhance by the rhyming couplets, and the feeling of accompanying the fog through the town. I also love the role the candles play, leaning and bowing.

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    1. Kim, your comments have sent me over the moon! Steampunk is a new genre for me and I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to create an image to inspire my poetry. I’m truly delighted this had the effect I was hoping for! Thank you for letting me know how much you enjoyed this fun creation. With an inspiration like Sandburg, how could anyone go wrong? 💙

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  8. So good Nance – taking ‘little cat feet’ and weaving it into something much more haunting and surreal – turning the keeper into a guardian rather than a monster, which makes the unknown feel intimate and sacred👏

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    1. Ange, I have always wanted to try the steampunk genre offered by my imaging app, and this turned out to be the perfect opportunity. I love the image so much and the poem is a result of the image …. not the other way around. I’m so pleased to know you enjoyed my efforts. Thank you so much!☺️💙

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