Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tracey at Tangles and Tails for Roundup.
In case you missed it, here's a video from Tuesday's celebration for the release of Come In! Come In! Wordspinners to Welcome You Home by Irene Latham, illus. by Amy Hevron, brought to us by the good folks at Astra Publishing. Many thanks for your support and enthusiasm!
For this week's ArtSpeak: WOMEN, I chose art by another female from the Hudson River School: Mary Josephine Walters. And I've got a thing for rivers apparently, because for the second week in a row, I've written a river poem. (I've learned to follow these meanderings and to listen to what they might be telling me!)
Click to read "When I Was a River."
Note: I'm generally horrified to find clichés in my work, but I decided to leave a cliché in this poem. I know! But the voice of this poem makes me think it works, at least for now.
Also, this poem gave me a chance to revisit my 2026 One Little Word - still. I love its multiple meanings! Thanks so much for reading.
Lines for a River
okay fine you're always flowing
i know that's true but sometimes you
are still and fill me with your flush
and thrum so deep time stops (even
though it doesn't can't won't) and when
we're together it's as if the forest is folding
us holding us and can i just say i love you
still
- Irene Latham
I can smell the cool, mossy air in your river poems! : )
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! "I love you still" surprised and delighted me. Loving your river poems. :)
ReplyDeleteForgot to add how much I love the Come In! Come In! video. So happy making.
DeleteIrene, your video is well-done and inviting. I am grateful to write a review of this interesting look into a house in an unique way. Word spin away with this book and many more in your future, my friend. Still holds a special place in your poem. "sometimes you/are still and fill me with your flush/and thrum so deep time stops."
ReplyDeleteLike you, Irene, I have a thing for rivers and creeks, so I very much appreciate the sentiment conveyed in your poem. Keep it flowing...
ReplyDeleteI love how this poem is like a letter to the river. Congratulations on Come In! Come In! Just a few more weeks before we see each other at Boyds Mills! I can’t wait!
ReplyDeleteA stream-of-consciousness style really works for this poem.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of all the poets who will gather in November! Enjoy every moment.
i love that if i didn't see your name below this poem i wouldn't know you had written it but just like the river you are always flowing and yet your moments of still are deep and wonderful and i love you
ReplyDeletestill
Irene, I love your opening -- this conversation between intimates :)
ReplyDeleteIrene, this river spoke to me as I am hoping to visit the one I love this week, the Salmon River in Wildwood.
ReplyDeleteI love this: "I've learned to follow these meanderings and to listen to what they might be telling me!"