POETRY FRIDAY IS HERE!

Hurray! You found it! The Poetry Friday Roundup is here!

You've probably already been to Catherine Johnson's blog and discovered that we switched weeks. About two weeks ago, I was asked to accompany a group of sixty middle schoolers to San Diego. We'll spend a day at the beach, probably the first time for many of our inner city, never been out of Denver travellers, then head to Ramona, California for six days at a Young Life camp.  It probably won't be the most restful "vacation," but it will be a lot of fun! Because I won't have access to wifi while I'm at camp, Catherine graciously agreed to trade with me.

In honor of my upcoming adventure, it seemed a perfect day to choose a poem from one of my favorite summer poetry books, "Have You Been to the Beach Lately?" by Ralph Fletcher. You probably already know Ralph's work, but just in case he's new to you, he often chooses a theme, e.g. the beach, and then builds a series of poems around that theme. Each of the poems can stand alone, but they are also connected to each other, and tell a kind of a story. Have You Been to the Beach Lately? captures a not-quite-teen's beach trip.

“First Lullaby”

In the late afternoon

the sea breathes

coolness

onto the shore.

Lying on a towel

I feel the sand

still glowing

with the memory

of the day’s hottest sun.

The beach hushes

at this time of day

and it sounds like the

world’s first lullaby:

the low throaty waves

salty breeze in my ears,

and Mom humming.

Ralph Fletcher

in Have You Been to the Beach Lately?

After I return from camp, I’ll head to the mountains for a weekend with my book club. We’ll be there at the height of the wildflower season and will hopefully see lots of meadows that look like this one.  We’ll do a little hiking and a lot of laughing, and then probably some crying too, because the purpose of this trip is to say goodbye to our dear friend, Laura, who’s heading off for an exciting new job in Hong Kong and will be gone for the next two or three years.

“Wildflowers”

Help wanted:  sturdy individuals

interested in grass-roots work

at a number of rugged locations

(cliffs, deserts, some tundra).

Good benefits. Must be strong

and adaptable, self-starter,

persistent, willing to relocate,

with no fear of high places

and no known allergies to bees.

 Ralph Fletcher

“Wildflowers” is from Ralph’s Blog, The Writer’s Desk, which you should definitely visit to read more of his poems. 

Thanks for stopping by today. Leave your comments below and I'll round them up several times throughout the day.