Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Ocean(s)

View of the Earth where all five oceans visible
View of the Earth where all five oceans visibleWorld Ocean
ArcticAtlanticIndianPacific, and Southern


“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”   ― Mahatma Gandhi

“What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.”   ― Werner Herzog

It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.”   ― Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us

“The winds, the sea, and the moving tides are what they are. If there is wonder and beauty and majesty in them, science will discover these qualities... If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.”  Rachel Carson


Clouds over the Atlantic Ocean


Midweek Motif ~ Ocean(s)

Mountain or ocean?  
When I live near one I long for the other.  
I don't think I could write poetry without them.
What about you?

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Your Challenge:  Choose an ocean you know or want to know~and in a new poem~use it to reflect on what is important to you.


🌴🌴🌴


excerpt from Sea Sand
                      by Sara Teasdale


I. JUNE NIGHT

O EARTH you are too dear to-night,
  How can I sleep, while all around
Floats rainy fragrance and the far
  Deep voice of the ocean that talks to the ground?
O Earth, you gave me all I have,
  I love you, I love you, oh what have I
That I can give you in return—
  Except my body after I die?

II. “I THOUGHT OF YOU”

I thought of you and how you love this beauty,
  And walking up the long beach all alone,
I heard the waves breaking in measured thunder
  As you and I once heard their monotone.
Around me were the echoing-dunes, beyond me
  The cold and sparkling silver of the sea—
We two will pass through death and ages lengthen
  Before you hear that sound again with me.
. . . . 


(Read the rest HERE.)




The ocean said to me once 
by Stephen Crane
The ocean said to me once,
"Look!
Yonder on the shore
Is a woman, weeping.
I have watched her.
Go you and tell her this --
Her lover I have laid
In cool green hall.
There is wealth of golden sand
And pillars, coral-red;
Two white fish stand guard at his bier.

"Tell her this

And more --
That the king of the seas
Weeps too, old, helpless man.
The bustling fates
Heap his hands with corpses
Until he stands like a child
With a surplus of toys."




Related Poem Content Details

The tide rises, the tide falls, 
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls; 
Along the sea-sands damp and brown 
The traveller hastens toward the town, 
      And the tide rises, the tide falls. 

Darkness settles on roofs and walls, 
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls; 
The little waves, with their soft, white hands, 
Efface the footprints in the sands, 
      And the tide rises, the tide falls. 

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls 
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls; 
The day returns, but nevermore 
Returns the traveller to the shore, 
      And the tide rises, the tide falls. 
Please share your new poem using Mr. Linky below and 
visit others in the spirit of the community—

(Next week Sumana’s Midweek Motif will be ~ 
Seeking the Extraordinary in the Ordinary.)

25 comments:

  1. Good morning Poets United! Wishing everyone a marvelous day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's bedtime for us. Enjoy your day.

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    2. Thanks for stopping by. Sweet dreams.

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    3. Susan, please remove my post. I made a mistake. Sorry

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    4. I removed it Martin, but I hope you will be back with another ...

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  2. Thank you Susan for another wonderful Midweek Motif :)

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  3. Replies
    1. Amazing, still, to be so far apart and so close.

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  4. Oceans.......the most important thing in my world........

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    Replies
    1. I'm surprised! I thought that would be trees, birds, wolves, dogs . . . oh, wait! it's all of them, haha!

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  5. Thank you for another interesting prompt

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  6. Wishing all a happy Wednesday

    much love
    gillena

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  7. I just posted a new one that was inspired by some 'deep water' thinking. Rob

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  8. Happy Wednesday, Poets!The prompt is excellent, Susan. Thank you:)

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    Replies
    1. Really enjoyed the possibilities born by the prompt. Thank you...

      Elizabeth

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    2. Thank you, Panchali! it's good to see you.

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    3. Thank you, Elizabeth. Water will get to us every time.

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  9. Nice propt, Susan! Did not do it justice...but....

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    Replies
    1. Wednesday is always better with a Mary in it! Good to see you.

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  10. Replies
    1. You know that's right! (sometimes I am a never for which I am sorry, Rosemary.)

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