Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I love so many of the poems in this book, especially Marilyn’s poems for two voices. She does those so beautifully, which must be why her reversos rock, as well. Anyway, formatting them properly is too challenging for my blog, but here’s another one of my favorites.
Since I grew up in Florida, I have many awesome ocean memories, and Marilyn’s poem taps right into all of them! It makes me wish I were going to have time to slip away to the beach for a few hours soon.
First Visit to the Ocean
Seeing it on TV
doesn’t tell you how big the ocean is,
or how salty it tastes
when a wave sprays your face,
how it can erase
footprints, messages, castles with moats,
how it welcome gulls and clams and all kinds of boats,
doesn’t show how you leave the city so far behind
and arrive in a country so new
you imagine you’re a dolphin
in that wide, wide world of blue.
–Marilyn Singer, all rights reserved, from I’m the Big One Now (Wordsong, 2019)
Isn’t that dreamy and mesmerizing, just like the ocean? For lots more wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with Tara!
Also, I’m visiting my dad in Florida right NOW (but not, sadly, at the beach), so I won’t be able to reply to comments this week.
What a wonderful poem! And, it’s so true. Nothing can show the ocean as the ocean shows itself.
I don’t live anywhere near a beach, but this poem brought back memories of our trip to Dauphin Island a few years ago. Those images are so vivd and beautiful!
Thanks for the sneak peak at Marilyn’s new book. Can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Oh, I’m so excited for this collection!! I grew up by the sea, and I miss it every time I visit somewhere landlocked. I don’t typically swim in the ocean (it’s like ice up here!), but just being near it is so comforting.
May our oceans and beaches stay magical!
Enjoy the visit in sunny Florida where the warmth will fall over you and make you smile. The poem you chose made me smile and wish that it was warm here. Marilyn Singer brought the ocean right to me although I live 15 minutes away from it. We usually take a ride there in January but it is too darn cold here now.
We can pack a holiday feeling into an afternoon at the beach, and come back salted and sated. There is just something about the sand, salt and sun – fresh vistas and air. So much to love!
Thanks for taking us to the ocean, all of us in the cold parts of the country–What a treat to splash in the waves with this new book!
This poem brought back fond memories of traveling up the East Coast from Massachusetts to visit my grandparents on a small island in Maine every summer. Oh the fun we had on the beach, exploring tide pools, and hunting for blueberries. And dreaming about adventures to come in my head during the car ride up was just as fun. Can’t wait to get a peek at Marilyn’s book. Thanks for the preview!
Marilyn is amazing, and this poem makes me want to go to the beach, too. There is so much to love about “that wide, wide world of blue.” Thank you for sharing, Laura!
That is a wonderful beach poem–and brings back so many beach memories for me, too. Enjoy the visit with your dad!