"When I fully enter time's swift current, enter
into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, I slow the torrent
with the weight of me all here"
~Ann Voskamp, author of 1000 Gifts
Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts set me on a journey (along with a few hundred thousand other people) to be thankful for the gift of every moment. I began my list of 1000 gifts on a trip to Cabo San Lucas in February. These are a few of the moments.
Pearl-skin
sentries
quell the crush
of tidal cliffs
their red tile hats
quell the crush
of tidal cliffs
their red tile hats
hide shaded eyes
in silence they stand watch
in silence they stand watch
as fixed-wing
gulls
ride invisible swells
of breezes that blow
ride invisible swells
of breezes that blow
white-lipped lapis
onto a popsicle stick of sand
that vanishes slow.
An elegant
script
of morse code clouds
scrolls across the sun
of morse code clouds
scrolls across the sun
whose final
work
a crescent curve,
a crescent curve,
settles in the
sea.
Inside, a milky veil
breathes through
the open door
and a daisy fan
on the
ceiling above
whispers
he loves me
he loves me
he loves me
he loves me
he loves me
in a rhythmic
hum.
I felt fair(ly) happy with this poem until I read writer/poet LL Barkat's "Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity and Writing." She notes how frequent(ly) writers try to channel Ann Voskamp (I could hear her laughing as I read the words). Though achieving Voskamp's voice is an exercise in futility, I fell prey to the trap nonetheless. I revised the poem and only LL can decide if I succeeded. Mea culpa: I couldn't resist dropping an -ly or two. Who can blame me - adverbs are evil.
Lol, I noticed "slow" and thought "Ann Voskamp."
ReplyDeleteIt's also a matter of energy level, and I feel yours coming through, but perhaps you are even more energetic than this? Only time will tell ;-)
(The popsicle stick was where I suddenly felt your energy come through :)
Beautiful nonetheless.
inside a milk veil an open door...nice...i also like the popsicle stick of land...that is very creative....
ReplyDeleteVoskamp is as good a poet as any to begin, but the real object of the game is to find your own voice, and if dropping a few -ly's achieves this, then continue! This one, however, feels different enough, and there may be here the intimations of something uniquely yours.
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