Poetry Friday: Water Magic

I'm counting down till my first poetry collection, Water Sings Blue, comes out. Once more, I'll share with you a few poems that didn't make the cut. These poems were left behind because we decided to stick to real ocean life. Of course, being primarily a fantasy writer, I composed some magic-tinged ocean poems along the way...


The Siren

The siren’s singing opera,
the siren’s singing rap,
the siren’s singing country songs,
and jazz and blues and tap.

The siren’s singing loudly,
so plug your ears and frown,
‘cause whatever she sings, the siren
deeply wants to see you drown.



Ghost Ship

Ghost ship, where are you going?
Bearing cargo from ancient lands,
jewels and spices, perfumes and tigers,
silks and contraband.

Ghost ship, where are you going?
Navigating your way by stars
that climb the heavens strangely,
with different names than ours.

Ghost ship, where are you going?
You’re sailing west and north,
but the only way to deliver your goods
is to land at the ghost of a port.



Sea Witch

The sea witch’s hairs are tentacles,
the sea witch’s arms are eels.
The sea witch stirs up tsunamis,
spinning the oceans like wheels.

The sea witch’s teeth are clamshells
and her eyes are wave-worn glass.
Beware the sea witch’s lair of bone,
for she will not let you pass.


Art: "Siren" by John Waterhouse and "The Little Mermaid" by Harry Clarke, also "Ghost Ship" by an unknown photographer.


And now, let's hear it for Poetry Friday! I'll be posting your poetry links early in the morning and again at noon and in the early evening, MST. (Can you tell I have to work?)

—Heidi Mordhorst leads off with talk of her family's Christmas tree plus a lovely Christmas picture book featuring the words of an e.e. cummings poem: Little Tree. Deborah Kogan Ray is the illustrator.

—Wordsmith Steven Withrow of Crackles of Speech joins us with his lovely poem "The Buck."

—Robyn Hood Black brings us an interview with the most excellent David L. Harrison and a preview of his new e-book collection of poems, Goose Lake.

—Over at Poetry at Play, Charles Ghigna ("Father Goose") shares poems about poetry; I can't decide which one I like best!

—And at Teaching Authors, the talented April Halprin Wayland has a poem called "First Books," along with a literacy fundraiser for FirstBook.org that you can help by commenting about the first book you remember reading.

—Myra Garces-Bacsal of Gathering Books invites you to join a reading challenge; she goes on to share a poem by Joel M. Toledo, "Persona," that is beautifully illustrated by a collage photo of Myra's daughter.

—At The Drift Record, Julie Larios shares the very fun Index poem she wrote for a Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect: "Index to the History of the Hiccup." Try to read it without getting the hiccups!

—Tabatha Yeatts of The Opposite of Indifference posts two intriguing poems by Marilyn L. Taylor, "The Geniuses Among Us" and "Aunt Eudora on Having Outlived All of Her Friends."

—Mary Lee of A Year of Reading uses Howard Nemerov's "To David, About His Education" to launch a thoughtful conversation about education. Can cookie making be as important as literature? I agree with Mary!

—Welcome Jeff Barger of NC Teacher Stuff, who reviews a poetry collection by Mordicai Gerstein, Dear Hot Dog. You may know Gerstein simply for his illustrations, but take a look at his poems!

—At A Teaching Life, Tara posts "two extraordinary poems about the ordinary" by George Bilgere: "The Table" and "Corned Beef and Cabbage." With a shout-out to Garrison Keillor, even.

—And speaking of shout-outs, over at Carol's Corner, we've got a reminder of the power of books that spotlights a collection of poems edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, I Am the Book. The poem Carol shares is Naomi Shihab Nye's "Who's Rich?"

—Librarian Andi Sibley talks about the Edublog awards at A Wrung Sponge. Julie Greller's post, "34 Websites for Teaching Poetry," led her to Magnetic Poetry for Kids. Great stuff!

—Where else but at Jama Rattigan's delectable Alphabet Soup site would you find a celebration of Jane Austen's birthday that includes one of the author's poems, "Oh! Mr. Best You're Very Bad," and a family bread pudding recipe?

—Did you know that the author of A Wrinkle in Time wrote poetry? Ruth of There Is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town shares a Madeleine L'Engle Christmas poem, "First Coming."

—Welcome to the prolific Diane Mayr, who shares a Ginger Andrews poem about the mulleygrubs at Random Noodlings, her own "A Letter Obsession" at Kids of the Homefront Army, Kay Ryan's "Every Painting by Chagall" at Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet, and a quote from Ryan at Kurious K's Kwotes.

—Poet Laura Salas honors the season with "Ring Out, Wild Bells" and invites us to visit this week's 15 Words or Less poems, too.

—At A Poem a Day from the George Hail Library, Maria Horvath spotlights the poet Alice Meynell and shares her sonnet, "Renouncement."

—Susan at Chicken Spaghetti is experimenting with dictionary found poems and invites us to join in! Her "Rhymes with Fascinating" and "Rhymes with Fascinating II" are terrific models.

—TeacherDance's Linda is missing summer, as expressed in her poem, "Pantry Stores."

—Kenn Nesbitt's poem, "December 26," ends with the perfect twist. Thanks to Debbie Diller for sharing it!

—The folks over at The Stenhouse Blog share a teaching tip from Anne Marie Corgill's book: how to create a class poetry anthology.

—Today at Joyce Ray's Musings we have a timely topic, a tribute to Russell Hoban and his poetry. Did you know that the creator of Bread and Jam for Frances passed away this week?

—Karen Edmiston of The Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title offers us a sublime poem from Thomas Merton, "Advent."

Okay, folks, I have to go to work. Any additional comments will be linked during my lunch hour. But just look at all the great stuff we've got so far!

—Today at The Poem Farm, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater posts a thoughtful poem for two voices, "Finding Answers."

—Elaine Magliaro of Wild Rose Reader shares nearly a dozen of her marvelous Christmas poems. Thanks, Elaine!

—Over at The Write Sisters, Barbara Turner gives us a poem about cats and curiosity by Alastair Reid.

—Liz Scanlon posts about running and the poem "Marathon" by E. Ethelbert Miller at her blog, Liz in Ink.

—David Elzey joins us with some seasonal haiku and other thoughts on once again failing to send out holiday cards.

—Welcome to Poetry Friday, Jim Hill! Today he offers us a poem about the awkwardness of adolescence, "Sometimes."

—Lorie Ann Grover has posted "My Soul Lights," a haiku about love, over at On Point: Writing Through Life.

—Miss Erin chimes in with an original poem called "Alone, and Happy." What a nice thought! Not everyone knows how to do that.

—In a fitting conclusion to our December day of poems, Janet Squires of All about the Books reminds us of a marvelous collection that talks about winter and its various celebrations: Winter Lights: A Season in Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines.

Merry Everything! And thanks for participating!