Ocean Waves, by Luftrum via Wikimedia Commons
SWIMMING POOL MEMORY
I remember the day I learned to float on my back --
lying in the middle of the pool's chlorine ocean
listening to the sound of the water in my ears
looking up at the blue blue Colorado sky
feeling the cradle of the water rock me back and forth
I didn't hear them yelling at me to come out of the pool --
lessons long over
the other children wrapped in towels
my own reverie broken
feeling a loss when I climbed from water to land
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013
From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):
She was always happiest
sitting by the window of the house
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean,
knotty hands knitting
as she listened to the rhythm of the tides
coming and going, like the years,
just like the years, coming and going,
and sometimes, I'd see her eyes close,
as if she were floating away for a few minutes
towards something better.
©Kevin Hodgson, 2013
The podcast is here.
From Carol (Carol's Corner):
“Underwater”
I am five.
Marge Westbay tells me to sit
on the steps at the pool
until it is my turn
to swim with her.
I mean to sit there
But then somehow
I am underwater
moving weightlessly
through a strange and magical
aqua green world
enchanted
by the dappled sunlight
dancing
on the bottom
of the pool
The lifeguard
drags me to the top
sits my bottom hard
on the edge of the pool
and scolds me
for moving toward that magic.
© Carol Wilcox, 2013
Irene has the Poetry Friday roundup at Live Your Poem... Hopefully this week I'll be able to visit the roundup and catch up on some of the amazing projects others are doing this month!
The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is
"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations."
I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!
You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.
She was always happiest
ReplyDeletesitting by the window of the house
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean,
knotty hands knitting
as she listened to the rhythm of the tides
coming and going, like the years,
just like the years, coming and going,
and sometimes, I'd see her eyes close,
as if she were floating away for a few minutes
towards something better.
- Kevin
The podcast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s09crPGyTyU4
(Note: The sounds of the water reminded me of my mother-in-law on summer vacations, before she passed away, when she just wanted to be near enough to the water to hear the tides. She'd often sit there, with eyes closed, just listening.)
Kevin,
DeleteThis is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. I love the feel of the "rhythm of the tides
coming and going, like the years,
just like the years, coming and going…" and then the contrast of "floating away toward something better." Wow!
Wow, gorgeous.
DeleteA dear memory, Kevin, "coming and going like the years". I love that you wrote and captured this.
DeleteKevin, your poem swept me away... just beautiful...
DeleteI loved listening to the ocean, Mary Lee, but I love your swimming pool memory more. As I read your poem, I feel myself, as a little girl, floating on my back in our neighborhood pool.
ReplyDeleteYour poem actually inspired the poem I wrote today. One of my most vivid memories from childhood come from when I was about five years old and almost drowned.
“Underwater”
I am five.
Marge Westbay tells me to sit
on the steps at the pool
until it is my turn
to swim with her.
I mean to sit there
But then somehow
I am underwater
moving weightlessly
through a strange and magical
aqua green world
enchanted
by the dappled sunlight
dancing
on the bottom
of the pool
The lifeguard
drags me to the top
sits my bottom hard
on the edge of the pool
and scolds me
for moving toward that magic.
© Carol Wilcox, 2013
Lovely, Carol! I really like "I mean to sit there" - a child's good intentions gone wrong. (Though as a mom, also my nightmare!) I am so enjoying all these water poems!
DeleteYou managed just that innocence that is rather frightening for us adults, isn't it? 'enchanted by the dappled sunlight'. Brings up some times for me too, Carol.
DeleteCarol, you really captured the innocence, fearlessness, and entrancing wonder that comes from being five. And reading this as an adult, as a mother... just takes my breath away.
DeleteBeautiful, Mary Lee. Water is such a wonderful subject, so fraught with memory. For me, it was bobbing - up and down, top and bottom, over and over. I remember that feeling of loss at the end of the lesson. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI can feel it rocking around me, Mary Lee. It was such a wonderful thing to be able to say I could swim. Thanks for the memory!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your Swimming Pool Memory very much, Mary Lee! Are you finding that being able to tap into different sorts of media makes you feel more creative?
ReplyDeletepast the breakers
ReplyDeleterocked by the great blue
under blue
-Andromeda Jazmon
I remember learning to swim in a pool just like yours. Your lovely poem brings it all back! Here's mine - When I can't sleep, or have to sit in the dentist chair, I go back to the times I have floated on the ocean waves just beyond the breakers. It's my happy place.
Mary Lee, at home in water. It's a great image. Thank you for sharing this memory-poem!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, your poem reminds me of my days at the pool. Been a wacky crazy week. An author visit yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed your poems this month, Mary Lee. Thanks for them!
ReplyDeleteYour poem helped remind me of being lost in the moment, that feeling of being so absorbed in something that I lose track of time. Reverie. How much of what we learn, of who we become, gets created in these moments?
Thanks!
You captured feelings and memories that so many of us can relate to...and did it beautifully! Even if we never swam (I loved it) - we can all connect with the idea of our reverie being broken by reality.
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, your swimming pool memory speaks to me in such a visceral and personal way-- thanks so much for sharing. All three of these poems are incredible, and made all the more so with the sound of ocean waves lapping in the background. What an amazing celebration of National Poetry Month!
ReplyDelete