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Searching my heart for its true sorrow,
This is the thing I find to be:
That I am weary of words and people,
Sick of the city, wanting the sea.
Imagine, if you will, that I am speaking to you in a language you understand. Hear me in the waves lapping upon the shore. Hold a seashell to your ear ~ close your eyes and listen for I will be there. I am all water on this Earth. You call me many names ~ oceans, seas, rivers and lakes; ponds and streams and brooks. The name matters not, all water ~ even rain… even ice ~ is me. I run through your body and the bodies of all creatures and growing things. I am everywhere there is life.
Wanting the sticky, salty sweetness
Of the strong wind and shattered spray;
Wanting the loud sound and the soft sound
Of the big surf that breaks all day.
You ask how can this be? That I am everywhere… the depth and breadth of my mighty oceans is greater than you can imagine. The wind assists me in my travels. The moon carries me back and forth upon the shores. The force you call gravity draws the rain from the clouds back to my breast. The rivers run to me ~ their divine being. I am a force above all others. I can be gentle and life-giving or I can be cruel and terrifying. I am.
Always I climbed the wave at morning,
Shook the sand from my shoes at night,
That now am caught beneath great buildings,
Stricken with noise, confused with light.
As I run through you, so I call to your soul. Atop the highest mountain, amid the driest desert, in the heat or in the cold, in the dark of night or light of day ~ always I call to you. Your need for me is deep within the race-memories of your cells. I was here for millions of years before life was formed in the dark of my belly. Tiny amoebas, bacteria, algae, plants, fish, reptiles. Eventually some bored of me and crawled out upon the land and breathed the air and forgot where they were birthed. But always, I remain a part of you.
If I could see the weedy mussels
Crusting the wrecked and rotting hulls,
Hear once again the hungry crying
Overhead, of the wheeling gulls.
You cannot live without me. Nothing can live without me. I do not say this pridefully, it is simply fact. Whether you are a creature of the land, the sea or the air; you must have water to survive. And I must have you to feel complete. Though there are innumerable differences between us, there are also molecules that we share. You may think I do not live but how can you say I am not alive when every living being is made in part by the mystical, magical molecules that form me? Life came from within me no matter what your form. Call it what you will ~ science, creation, magic or miracle.
I should be happy,—that was happy
All day long on the coast of Maine!
I have a need to hold and handle
Shells and anchors and ships again!
I shall tell you what I think then you decide… I remain a part of you. I call to your very soul from every tide… every wave… every drop of rain. Because we all have the divine spark within us that connects us throughout time and space. I gave birth to you and gifted you with a part of me. We cannot escape one another. I do not wish to part from you and I don’t believe you wish to part from me. We are. And we are blessed.
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the form { i hope } is a type of prose-poetry, interspersing the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay through my prose, or story-telling. many thanks to Anna Montgomery for her prompt at dVerse ~ Poets Pub. i also wish to thank Julie at We Write Poems for her prompt to write a persona poem, from the point of view of someone or something other than myself.
i used some, but not all of Edna St. Vincents’ poem “Exiled” which you can read in its entirety HERE. there is also a bio HERE.
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image ~ “Rime of the sea” TempestasRex on deviantART
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this is my submission to ~
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Meeting the Bar: Postmodern (Prose) at dVerse ~ Poets Pub
prompt: write a prose-poem or incorporate passages of prose into your poem
thank you, Anna!
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Open Link Monday at imaginary garden with real toads
submit a new or old poem
thank you!
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Poetry Pantry #118 at Poets United
submit a new or old poem
thank you, Mary!
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Prompt #126 Your Masquerade Party at We Write Poems
prompt: write a persona poem, also called mask poems { they are written from a perspective other than one’s own. Whether it’s a friend, enemy, relative, pet, inanimate object, historical figure or someone completely fictionalized, think and write as if you were the other character, bringing them to life and capturing their world. Wearing their “costume” gives you permission to step out of your comfort zone and change your style, tone and perspective. }
thank you, Julie!
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i am also participating in ~
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Nice, Dani. I liked how you used the words of Edna St. Vincent Millay between yours. You definitely made ‘water’ come alive, gave it a poetic voice, and showed how it is both part of us and necessary for us. Without it, we would not exist!
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “First Fig” is my very favorite poem. thank you for your support, Mary! ♥
this is gorgeous dani….love the nature and spirituality in it….the intimacy…the drawing of the the water back up to the breasts….we are….the longing never to part but giving way to decisions….love it…
thank you, Brian! that means so much coming from you! ♥
we all speak in that language of unspoken things….thats nature’s escape hatch…
{smile} thank you for your visit and comment, Sonny! ♥
Beautifully done, Dani! This really drew me in.
thank you, Kelli! ♥ i appreciate your visit and sweet comment.
Wonderful flow just lovely.
thank you! i appreciate your visit and kind comment!
A great blend of persona, prose, and incorporating the work of another poet. The connection being honored and uplifted in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem, mirrored in your persona/prose poem, added another reflection upon the surface of water. The authoritative persona was creative and believable. I love that you started with, ‘Imagine, if you will, that I am speaking to you in a language you understand.’ as I think it highlights the plight of any poet/artist trying to communicate in a new way in the world.
i really enjoyed this form. i often write haibun in order to blend prose and poetry but this was much more satisfying. i appreciate your thoughtful comment, Anna. ♥ thank you for the wonderful prompt ~ i look forward to the ones to come. {smile}
This is a lovely and powerful write…one of your best ~ I think this is your best writing form, it flows wonderfully ~
thank you so much, Grace! ♥ you’re too kind!
Very nice – I got swept away in it, and it reminded me of something I wrote about Soul and space and getting to that place where holy meets real. I think I’ll go post that. I look forward to reading more of your work, one poet to another!
thank you, Liesl! ♥ i can’t wait to read your post! i appreciate your visit and kind comment.
Thank you for wandering on over to my site – here is a link to the poem… http://waffle-wednesday.com/the-soul-in-poetry/ there is a second one inspired by the same writer that shocked me with yelling in the middle of it. I haven’t posted that one yet… I think I will a little later today.
i’ll be by later tonight, Liesl! thanks for sharing. ♥
A Panentheist longing for Spain — a romantic, idealist perhaps.
it took me a moment to get the Spain reference. {smile} thanks for stopping by, Sabio!
Very interesting combination of texts that you manage to make work – the water really like a God, mother, lover. k.
that’s it exactly! thank you for your visit and comment! ♥
Love Millay, and this is a wonderful usage here :)
thank you very much! ♥
magnificent as the ocean herself!
you’re very kind! ♥ thank you, Laura!
This is so beautiful to read……love the alternating voices, which work so well together. This is an intriguing form. I quite like it. LOVE the topic – water, the sea……….so well done, kiddo.
thank you so much, Sherry! ♥ Millay’s “First Fig” is my very favorite poem. i enjoyed the form, too.
Took me so long to get here again, added to the hassle of inputting my details, I forgot what I meant to say!!! :)
sorry, Pen! ♥
The sea has always been close to the heart of this Piscean person…
thank you so much for your visit, Pen! ♥ sorry you had trouble finding the comment button again. i wish i could move it to the top but the theme doesn’t let me move it.
Stunning writing, Dani! Love the intermingling of your words and Millay’s. The personification of water is so effective, love this!
thank you so very much, Mary! ♥ you’re too kind.
Beautiful, beautiful write.
thank you, Audrey! ♥ i really appreciate your visit and kind comment.
This prose poem is quite lovely, with is almost prayer like quality. Loved the questioning of how water is considered lifeless when all living things must have it to live. This is a fantastic effort!
thank you so much, Margaret! ♥ you’re very kind.
I love it Dani! Haunting but it flows perfectly. I love the opening most!
thank you so much! i really appreciate your visit and comment. ♥
Dani
I want to print this and read it every day– breathe in the salt speckled truths and wet reality. So beautiful!! You did an incredible job of weaving one poem with the other. Absolutely loved this:-)
thank you so much, Sara! ♥ you really are too kind!
There is so much truth and beauty in this “collaboration” between you and the great Edna St. Vincent Millay…the hold the ocean has on so many hearts and minds…wonderful!
thank you, Kay! ♥ i appreciate your visit and kind comment.
Truly magnificent. I loved what you did with all these prompts!
thank you so much! ♥ i really appreciate your visit and kind comment.
As a lover of the sea, I really appreciate what you have done here. The sea endlessly whispers to all of us, and now you have given those whispers words.
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/
thenk you very much, Elizabeth! ♥ you’re very kind.
Enjoy your skill with mirror of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the rhythms match well. Refreshing reminder of link to water, especially as water becomes both more scarce and a commodity. So many gorgeous lines like, ‘As I run through you, so I call to your soul’ and how the wind assists with water’s travels. Thank you.
thank you so much! you’re too kind!
This piece was as enchanting as a siren singing at sea…captivating indeed. One cannot but keep reading. You have demonstrated real skill in merging the different genres. Beautiful!
thank you very much! ♥ you’re too kind!
Woven well, dani!! Indeed…I love the points you make about water in your prose…alive and with us always…SO much power and mystery in the seemingly simple water…till you really think about it. I wrote a (much shorter), poem about this last week… :)
it is long, isn’t it? i’m really bad about editing. {smile} thank you for such a kind comment. ♥
No, it didn’t feel long, honestly…mine was just way shorter than what I would normally write. Sorry, as soon as I hit send I realized how that would come off. Love combining of prose and poem…great form…if it is one and if it isn’t it should be. :)
i think it is a form, though i thought ‘prose poetry’ was something else. and please don’t apologize! i realized it was an awfully long read. thanks for having the patience to read it all! {smile} ♥
Nope no patience needed…it was delightful, really! :)
♥