I may be out of town, but auto publish is a wonderful thing. I was thinking that this might be the perfect time to write about travel and/or transportation. I hate to fly, but love the train. Sadly, it's the plane I end up taking most often. How about you? What's your favorite way to travel? Your favorite place to visit? Where do you want to go that you've never been?
Let's write about travel. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.
Last week I tried really hard, and failed miserably, at writing a pantoum. So, shame got the better of me and I tried again using this week's travel theme.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't pretty, but at least I finished it!
Traversing Water: A Pantoum
Looking for adventure?
If your object is to traverse
A lake, a pond, or stream
Climb aboard a kayak or canoe.
If your object is to traverse
With a minimum of effort,
Climb aboard a kayak or canoe.
Grab a paddle! Even a stick!
With a minimum of effort
A downed tree trunk will do!
Grab a paddle--even a stick--
Pretend you are Huck Finn!
A downed tree trunk will do
For a lake, a pond, or stream!
Pretend you are Huck Finn
Looking for adventure.
Traveler
ReplyDeleteEarth sings, and we lift
our eyes, then wings
to cool blue skies.
Leaves swirl away
below us, red
and yellow stars
but we are
a feathered constellation,
arrow pointing
down the long
sky-path to where
everything begins.
--Kate Coombs, 2010
I am the Traveler
ReplyDeleteI am the traveler,
you the boat,
that carries us far;
and as we float
along the years,
each eddying wave,
from birth-broken waters
to tear-stained grave
reads like a carefully-
scripted note
that I am the traveler,
you the boat.
© 2010 by Jane Yolen, all rights reserved
Oops, lots of water this week! Oh well. I woke up with the first line of this poem in my head this morning. It feels so good to Stretch this week! It's been a while!
ReplyDeleteBy Wind
I sailed a poem to the grocery store
The bus was late
My bike had a flat
I was too lazy to walk
But it was all right
Words like "feather" and "easement" billowed the sails
And I floated right over the asphalt, above the exhaust
Anchored by the twin hulls of "only" and "below"
I took aboard two brown grocery bags,
Raced waves down Portland Avenue,
And tried to keep apples and cheddar cheese and Diet Coke
From spilling overboard onto the real world
(I think one apple hit a taxi,
But I considered that fair exchange
For that nightmare ride to
Dance Expo last month, when the driver
Didn’t even look before
Streaking onto wild, honking 3rd Street)
I tacked the poem
Tried to control the wind
Until I woke up
And realized I was wasting a perfect sailing day
So I just let the poem drift
I climbed its mast up into clouds and
Let the poem sail itself
--Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
I'd love to sail a poem, Laura!
ReplyDeleteCancelled Flight
ReplyDeleteAn ocean of travelers
sprawl across islands of baggage
like scurvy-ridden sailors
adrift on a windless sea.
A disembodied voice
announces another numbered flight
that will not reach home.
I close my eyes
and wish I were nine,
lying in the back
seat
where I watched
the slow strobe
of lights
flash by,
felt
the gentle
pressure on my side
as the car
turned right
and climbed
the hill
toward
home.
Armchair Traveler
ReplyDeleteby Nicole Marie Schreiber
Sailing on a sea of words,
each page I turn is
a window into another life
I want to live.
Shall I restore a house in Tuscany,
live on a vineyard in Provence,
or own a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye?
Maybe sell all of my possessions
and travel the world with my family,
where we could ride elephants in Thailand,
eat gelato in Italy,
dance Flamenco in Spain,
watch giraffes in Kenya,
or play fiddles in Ireland?
Or shall I follow in the footsteps
of Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter,
and the Bronte sisters
to learn the secrets
of their success
in the English countryside?
No matter which path I choose,
with book in lap
and tea in hand,
I shall always remember
seven simple words to live by--
Keep calm,
keep reading,
and travel on.
This was an interesting week at my very urban school -- don't have travel on my mind.
ReplyDeleteLice are not nice!
When you scratch you think twice:
who's there, in my hair?
Why me, it's not fair?
No, lice are not nice!
Do I need a short shave?
Mom says, behave and be brave.
Because lice are not nice,
no, lice are not nice. No!
Hope you get the flowers you want soon. The sun's finally out here. I've been scattered all week, what with the Spring fever.
ReplyDelete