I am loving this Poetry Friday thing! I love reading other people's words and what they have to say about other people's words. Check out the Round Up here.
And here is my contribution -- another in the historical women series that appears in EINSTEIN AT THE ODEON CAFE. Ever wondered what a ship might say??
The Nina Remembers Columbus
Three sisters, but I was the one he loved best.
His wife? She may have borne him a son
but I taught him to swim in possibility.
I baptized him in a hundred oceans
and introduced him to the New World.
He favored me, ask anyone.
Voyage after voyage we sailed, my ropes
taut in his hands, his boots claiming my deck,
his voice a booming song to lift my sails.
For him, I conquered warring currents,
discovered Cuba and placed him upon her shore,
delivered him from the eye of a hurricane.
And when he dropped anchor
I did not cry like the open-mouthed gulls.
I counted each bruising stroke as he rowed
away in his launch, then waited for his return
with the patience of wood.
My sisters, they meant nothing to me.
- Irene Latham
Thanks for sharing another gorgeous poem. "I taught him to swim in possibility." So many great lines!
ReplyDeleteYes, so many! Beautiful. I love "the patience of wood."
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting concept for a poem!
ReplyDeleteJust lovely! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Brilliant! I love the concept - and this 'woman' has such an attitude.
ReplyDeleteViolet (Book Brew)
I loved your poem-just was in a class Thursday and they were doing personification-what a great example...
ReplyDeleteThis poem is stunning. I am so inspired by it, the intricate images you weave through it, the deceptively simple ending, so loaded and rich. I swoon at this.
ReplyDelete