Fran McVeigh gave me a magnet at NCTE: “Explore new possibilities.” I’m considering the word explore for my 2018 One Little Word, but for today, it inspired the title for a poem requested by Carol Varsalona for her #AutumnAblaze gallery. She saw my photograph on Facebook from a recent canoe voyage on the Bayou Teche (pronounced “tesh”). I loved the photo, too, and was resistant to writing about it. I want you to know this is still in draft, so you can leave soft critique in the comments.
Explore New Possibilities
On the water,
the canoe turns
toward a horizon
I do not know.I paddle-pull
under a bridge,
listen to the rumble-
a passing carlike thunder from rolling clouds.
Under a bridge
where teenagers
huddle close and smoke,where wooden gates
direct water
as if one could
contain such a wild thing,a golden sunset
draws me toward
a new destination.–Margaret Simon
Mary Lee Hahn invites us to join #haikuforhealing. Inspired by the same photo, a haiku:
where road meets water
a bridge, a golden sunset
a new horizon.
–Margaret Simon