The Poet-of-the-Week for the W3 Poetry Prompt is Violet Lentz, who invites us to write a poem inspired by one of three images.
I chose Houses in Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1909). I love this drawing—it makes me envision the beautiful baroque buildings for which Dresden was once renowned, before their destruction in the Second World War. Known as “Florence on the Elbe,” the city was celebrated for its baroque architecture and cultural treasures, and I found myself reflecting—rather darkly—on what became of those historic structures. To me, Kirchner’s sketch captures just one of the many that were lost. My poem was born from these reflections.
A House in Dresden
A house stood grand
in a Dresden street
people would stroll in front of it
to greet, to chat, to meet.
A house stood grand
till they bombed it flat
in World War Two
and that was that.
In tit-for-tat—
they bombed it flat,
a house stood grand
till they did that.
The house in Dresden went.
Then a street fell silent
—Lesley Scoble, December 2025
Audio – A House in Dresden
The bombing of Dresden took place between 13–15 February 1945, when British and American forces launched devastating air raids that destroyed much of the city and killed tens of thousands of civilians. It remains one of the most controversial Allied actions of World War II.
THANK YOU
Violet, thank you for your inspiring ekphrastic prompt.
David, as always, thank you for your weekly encouragement.
And to you, reader—thank you for giving your time to my poem and song.
To learn more about David’s poetry prompts and join in, follow the link below.
LesleyScoble.com 
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