Amy at The Poem Farm is hosting today.
Poetry heals. Yesterday I posted about my student whose mother died. Amy (who is our awesome hostess today) sent a comment with a poetry resource for healing, The Place I Know: Poems of Comfort, compiled by Georgia Heard. I ordered it for a mere penny on Amazon, a collection of poems for grieving children. Thanks, Amy, for the recommendation and for your kindness and for hosting Poetry Friday today.
Making connections online can be inspiring. Carol Varsalona posted a call for poetry submissions for a Summer Serenity Gallery on her site. The post is up, and I am humbled to have a poem in this wonderful collection. Carol put in hours of work. Please head over and back again and again to feel the gentle memory of summer serenity.
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, There is a magesty here, a reminder that in the bigness and beauty, we are small…but we are here. Rounded stones, moon-presence…your poem takes me back to our glorious days at Assateague this summer. Thank you.
There is something magical and majestic about the big wide ocean and our little selves. Thanks for hosting and caring.
Margaret, I am delighted that you showcased your poem that evokes such a sense of serenity and even mentioned the gallery that I created. In your poem, my senses are awakened as you write “the hum-swishing of waves crashing to shore” and I am called back to the shore for gentle remembrances of summer when Long Island glistened like a jewel against the sea.
Thank you for all the work you did on the gallery. A labor of love.
This is beautiful, Margaret.
How wonderfully you’ve captured the beauty, mystery, and danger of the sea. Lovely photo pairing!
I’m so sorry for your student’s loss, Margaret. That hits so hard. Reading the comments on your other post, I was surprised by how often that comes up in teachers’ lives. Children can have anything going on at home, can’t they? Thank goodness you are there to be their foothold.
Thanks for your concern. I have been touched by the caring responses.
Oh, another fleeting glimpse of the sea…so lovely, Margaret! I miss the “hum-swishing of waves crashing to shore”. = )
I have the Poems of Comfort, Margaret, sorry I didn’t think to share it with you. I’m glad you found it for your student. Your poem in the Serenity Garden is a gorgeous poem of place, pulls me there & tells we some things I should know! Carol’s Gallery is a good place to to, too!
I remember when you were drafting this poem. It’s a real marriage of place and emotional truth. It sounds just right.
I did post it before and had some good advice for revision. I love seeing it paired with the photo in the gallery alongside other serenity poems.
hum-swishing. LOVE. Hugs to you and Emily. When I taught, I had the book Lifetimes by Bryan Mellonie to read whenever we faced death, though it was never a parent. Thanks for being a caring teacher!
What a great poem for that particular location, with all the deceptions you point out. I love the way you end with those peaceful assurances. Beautiful!
I too saw Carol’s Summer Serenity Gallery. What a project!
Great pic & poem from your visit to the NW! Hope to meet you on a future visit here. Love the ending reflection – “a single stone, I am named. Be still and know…”
The photo pairs beautifully with your poem, Margaret. Sending love to you and your classroom.