Perspective
All my life you've been a dipper.
Just this morning, though,
as I wondered whether you were telling me
to pour out
or scoop up
you changed into a giraffe
your long curved neck
reaching across galaxies
so you could nibble on the juicy gibbous moon.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021
Obviously, that photo was not taken in Ohio, but it was the one I could find with the correct orientation of The Great Giraffe, as this constellation is now known (to me).
The big ideas here are
1. Look up
2. Notice
3. Wonder
4. Be willing to think differently about everything you've been taught
Kat, at Kathryn Apel, has the Poetry Friday Roundup for this week.
Just gorgeous! First you capture me with your pour or scoop, and then you nibble juicy gibbous moons, with your love curved neck reaching across galaxies.
ReplyDeleteLove The Great Giraffe and the big ideas of this post!
ReplyDeleteYour advice about 'perspective' is illustrated perfectly in your poem, Mary Lee. And your "big ideas": #1-3, yes, but
ReplyDelete#4 "Be willing to think differently about everything you've been taught" - YES!
Mary Lee, Not only do you have a gift for choosing words to express a perspective -- you also find an image that captures it, too. When I look at the Big Dipper, I will think of your Great Giraffe and consider another way to see the stars and all that makes up the constellations of life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wise and concise perspective.
Yes, it IS a giraffe! I never noticed before!
ReplyDeleteLOVE! Giraffes and gibbous moons and wonder. Yes. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI still struggle to "see" what those in the past have seen, except for this constellation & Orion's belt, a couple of others. Now you've inspired me to create my own stories, Mary Lee, but I may keep your giraffe! Wonderful!
ReplyDeletePerspective and big ideas lead to a good deal of inspiration at your post today, Mary Lee. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI adore this poem, Mary Lee. Of course it's a giraffe! And of course it wants to "nibble on the juicy gibbous moon." Being willing to shift our perspective isn't easy, but look at what wonders doing just that can reveal!
ReplyDeleteI really love this, Mary Lee...and the big ideas. Ha! A giraffe. I suppose it really is a giraffe. I wonder what the giraffe sees when it looks up into the night sky?
ReplyDeleteI adore the feeling of surprise but unquestioning acceptance in the idea that the constellation changes in an instant. And then you can't see it the old way.
ReplyDeleteHow marvelous a giraffe—yes I’ll look for giraffe now. The gibbous moon is perfect, not half lit, not quite full. Thanks for your invitation to question and wonder...
ReplyDeleteNow I will always see a giraffe when I see the Big Dipper. A great poem for the time, when so much has to be thought of differently.
ReplyDeleteI love that giraffe nibbling on the gibbous moon.
ReplyDeleteLovely poem, but lesson number four really stays with me.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this. I will never see the Big Dipper the same way again. Thank you!
ReplyDelete