Ideas are all around us...
They often reveal themselves when we sit or stand still in any given place and take time to indulge in a little close and considered observation. Look and learn moments.
A walk of some 300 metres from my back gate along the reserve to the beach delivered this poetry moment on a winter's walk back in July. It reflected a small, yet notable part of that day's events. As poets, capturing small moments others pass by, forms a significant part of our existence. I have been waiting to share it with you...
Morning Mist
Over Fisherman’s
Beach
On this grey, winter’s morning
Mist spreads across the bay
wispy like cigar smoke
It settles just above the water’s surface
Hanging like a stage curtain
Over Fisherman’s Beach
Cloaking the horizon with an air
Of mystery and intrigue.
This perfect backdrop for pirates, smugglers
Or secretive sailors,
-A haunting morning
Complete with shivers.
I stand at the shrouded shoreline
Peering at the sea
Adorned in its secretive cloak.
The tide retreats
Leaving puddled sand
And a lone, confused seagull
With no answers
-Such a mistifying morning.
Alan j Wright
It is once again Poetry Friday and our genial host this week is Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Jama's post celebrates her love of October and all things associated with the month as experienced in the northern hemisphere. Visit Jama to find out more, especially news of a poet she has recently discovered...
Alan, thank you for sharing. You are right, not everyone sees like a poet. I'm trying to learn, to stop and listen and look, like you did here:
ReplyDelete"I stand at the shrouded shoreline
Peering at the sea
Adorned in its secretive cloak."
And then you wrote about it. Beautiful!
The art of observation is acquired through deliberate practice. We must do it consciously as you suggest. Thanks Denise for your supportive response.
DeleteEnjoyed your evocative, atmospheric poem. Felt I was right there with you. Love the "shrouded shoreline" and "secretive cloak."
ReplyDeleteThank you Jama. You have captured the notion of atmospheric which is apt in this situation.
DeleteI grew up by the sea, not on it, but close enough by. My mother, too, and she recited Masefield's poem often. My heart always wants to go down to the sea again and your very descriptive poem brings me there. I no longer live by the sea though it lives in me. And any chance I get, we head to Maine to commune with the water's healing sounds and air and wispy, misty mornings. Your poem helps me see the sea.
ReplyDeleteJanet Clare F.
PS I have enjoyed your poems in Bridget Magee's anthology!
Your response is rich in detail Janet- John Masefield included. I am glad my poem provided a marine connection. I have American friends who go to Maine every year to experience the sea in all its glory. So glad you enjoyed my poems in the anthology. It is gratifying to be involved in Bridget's poetry project.
Delete"MIstifying"--nice! I do like the stretch you provide for us Northern Hemisphereans to think of July as midwinter. Lucky you, to live so close to a beach!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heidi. That seasonal divide is ever present and always confronts our ongoing experience. I am indeed fortunate to live so close to the beach.
DeleteWe rarely have mist in our Colorado dry climate so when I go to the beach I love the mist in the early mornings, wondering what's hiding out there, swimming past, that only "it" knows. Your capture that waited from your winter to ours is one I imagine will help you remember that walk, too, Alan. I love it all and that surprise word at the end, "mistifying".
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how we can take something as simple as mist for granted Linda. Geography is critical to our climatic knowledge. Glad you enjoyed my deliberate word play at the end.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful, Alan! I live in a place with lots of fog and mist in winter - I love how you've captured that with such imaginative language "like cigar smoke" and "mistifying." Thanks for sharing this today!
ReplyDeleteThank you Elisabeth. You know mist and fog giving you a connection with my words. Every poet finds that re-assuring.
DeleteLove the word play at the end, and thank you for saving this poem for us Northern Hemisphereans for whom winter in July is such a foreign concept!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary Lee. Equally, I am challenged by winter in December.
DeleteOoh, this is wonderful! I love all the vivid language, but I think my favorite is "the sea / adorned in its secretive cloak." Beautiful sound echo...
ReplyDeleteThank you for your generous response Laura. Glad you liked the secretive cloak
DeleteAlan, I am not sure why my comments do not attach but I will try again. Your poem is wonderful and reminds me of my days at the Atlantic Ocean where I used to live. Love the language:
ReplyDeleteOr secretive sailors,
-A haunting morning
shivers.
shrouded shoreline
secretive cloak
May I add your image poem to my seasonal gallery collection?
Carol you have plucked so much from the poem. I am honoured... Maybe its your background experience prompting your response.
DeleteYou create such a lovely mood with your word choice. Misty mornings are treasures!
ReplyDeleteThank you Molly. Mood was an important element in the initial experience and I'm glad it came through in my words. Like you, I love misty mornings.
Delete