July 15th – Let’s explore tides today. Their presence is almost required for a day of fun at the beach. Be it a high tide or low tide, don’t hide your muse and refuse to get your feet wet. Write your tide poem. (And yes, if you wish to honor laundry detergent, I’m not stopping you!)
***
KEEPING UP WITH THE WAVES
July 12 – Starry, Starry Night
POETIC BLOOMINGS 
Responses
All the people who wrote Sestinas yesterday inspired me to write one of my own. 🙂
The Tide Is A Song (Sestina)
The rise and the fall of the tide
Will go on forever, like time,
The rising and setting of moon
And sun, and the waves in the sea;
The horizon, the strains of song,
And the sound of pen on paper;
No poet can put on paper
The ins and the outs of the tide,
Or explain in verse or in song
This mystery that’s baffled time,
That’s drawn its beauty from the sea
And the silver pull of the moon;
It listens only to the moon,
Brighter and whiter than paper;
But always in the gray-blue sea,
The steady rhythm of the tide,
Has always since the dawn of time,
Found the sweet music of its song;
The wistful, longing, pretty song
Reflects the shimmer of the moon,
Catches wisdom and strength of time,
And keeps them, like words on paper,
In the rise and fall of the tide
And the gray and blue of the sea;
Always on the edge of the sea,
This haunting, sad, sweet little song,
Will come in and out with the tide,
Interact with light from the moon,
Memorized, no need for paper,
The tide’s known this song all the time;
The tide’s known this song all the time,
It’s kept it safely in the sea,
Safer even than on paper,
Cause paper gets lost, but this song
Is held by the silvery moon
And nurtured by the blue-gray sea;
All time is captured in the tide,
Like words on paper, and the moon
And sea are keepers of the song.
© Copyright Erin Kay Hope – 2013
I have written and probably at the end of my days will ONLY have written one sestina. Some people seem to do them effortlessly, though I know that isn’t true! Kudos to you for doing it nicely. I love the tie in of tide and song.
I love the tie in of tide and song as well. And congratulations on your first sestina! Nicely done, Erin.
Thanks, Marie! 🙂
Thank you, Debi! I know what you mean; this will very likely be the only, or one of the only, Sestinas that I write. It was so frustrating – I just wanted to put rhyming words at the end of each line! 😉
Oh, this is good.
Glad you think so – thanks, William. 🙂
Cheers, Well done. (And a great feeling on your end I bet) 🙂
Thank you, M! Yes, it’s a wonderful feeling. I’ve been wanting to try this form for a while, just haven’t been brave enough. 😉
Erin – this is a beautiful Sestina. 🙂 Just a note in case you want to send this in somewhere: in the second to last stanza you used “sea” twice as an ending word and left out “tide”.
Omigosh, she’s right. I missed that, which is one reason I dread this form.
Your right! I did, didn’t I? Oh bother…
I’ll switch the last line in the sixth stanza to: “nurtured in the surge of the tide”
Great fix Erin! 🙂
Excellent catch, Michelle. If I ever need someone to proof something for me, I know who I can count on! (Just kiddin’. Wouldn’t do that to you. 😉 )
Such beautiful language, Erin!! Well done!
Thank you much, Hannah!
Wow, and that last stanza…!!
Thank you, Hen! I think the last stanza is my favorite part…it was also the easiest to write. 😉
Erin, you astound me with the beauty of this poem, as well as the structure.
Tidal Waves
It’s not anger
Or bitterness
Nor the sour
Acidic taste
Of sharp regret
That troubles me.
It’s not misery
smudging my world
Nor loneliness
shadowing my heart.
Feelings don’t rule my day
I’ve whittled them down
To humdrum
Remote… removed…
Alienated from joy
This ennui of life
Is eroding my soul.
Life, oh, joyful,
lovely, lilting, life,
I’m lifted on currents
wild and swift
ever up, ever higher,
higher, is there a top?
I feel I could cry
with the exquisite
sweetness of ethereal
skies, oceans, rain,
plumage, everything
is rimmed with angel
music, distant, delicate,
tatted lace yellowed
with the tides of time.
Oh, how I long
for some equilibrium.
EXCELLENT. Especially love this: “Nor the sour acidic taste of sharp regret.” This poem is full of imagery and emotion.
Yes, indeed. The title seems thoughtful too; the image of a “tidal wave,” for me, is a tsunami, which implies greater power than tides. I especially love the lilting feeling the alliteration conveys at the beginning of the second stanza.
What they said, Debi…written beautifully!
This is beautiful, Debi!
Thanks you all.
Wonderful. 🙂
Yes!
Beautiful Debi!
Simply stunning, Debi!
An Ocean in Motion
Tides rise
Tides fall
Once, I had a close call
Barely getting back to land
From the rock on which I tanned
Tide’s out
Tide’s in
Couldn’t see where I had been
Rock was swiftly four feet under
Adolescent reckless blunder
Tides come
Tides go
Don’t get caught in undertow
When you’re playing at the ocean
Pay attention to its motion.
© Copyright Marie Elena Good – 2013
I think this is great. it’s fun to read yet says something profound, I can relate, too; I got caught in the Pacific once, by paying no attention.
This is great, Marie! I like the way it moves along. Glad you escaped! 🙂
Very nice and it does have that under meaning of life, too. I like this.
OH, how true and beautifully told.
Love the motion of this one Marie! 🙂
True that!! There are some scary places like that around here, too. Love the cadence! 🙂
Thanks for the comments, all. You guys are great!
So scary, Meg!!
And this has great motion, Marie
I’ve re-joined Walt at our original shared blog, “Across the Lake, Eerily.” My first day back was Saturday the 13th, and the poem I wrote just happens to be “Waltz of Poetic Tides.” If you are interested in checking out our blog, here is the url: http://aleerily.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/waltz-of-poetic-tides/
WALTZ OF POETIC TIDES
She arrives on an opposing shore
Welcomed as home
And recognized as family.
Her eyes survey the distance
That is both extensive
And wholly irrelevant;
For she has learned the mystery
Of never meeting face-to-face,
Always seeing eye-to-eye,
And relishing the waltz.
Wow. This is wonderful. I especially like “… never meeting face-to-face, always seeing eye-to-eye.” Apparently there’s some history I don’t know connected with that other forum. I love the “eerily” pun.
I love “And relishing the waltz” the whole thing is beautiful
WALT AND MARIE
This great lake
cannot forsake
the very best of friends:
the kind whose minds and hearts are one;
who leave no grace or good undone;
whose friendship never ends,
for each can see,
though distantly,
the other’s trials and trends.
I’m being presumptuous, but I wanted to share this. I’ve read a bit of your other forum and looked up where you each live (Walt mentioned Maumee and I think Walt has some connection with Cheektowaga), so i see you’re basically at the extreme ends of Lake Erie. Your friendship is palpable in your words. Anyway, the above piece came to me. The form is supposed to be a “ranivilla,” or so someone said to me once. I’ve never seen it described anywhere, though.
Nice tribute, William, to a rare kind of friendship that lives in the lines of poetry.
True William. If you look at the cigar-shape of Erie, Marie and I live at the very tips of the lake. We have found that our upbringing and lives are “eerily” similar with many episodes showing an almost cosmic connection.
You nailed the concept of Across the Lake, Eerily. We ceased our joint commitment to focus on POETIC BLOOMINGS (although I had kept it on “life support” under various name changes. (Across the Lake, Silently, or Eerily Silent) It is time to resurrect our roots and relish this connection. The Prodigal Poet returns; fatted calves beware!
Hey! Up there with the glasses and cool goatee! Are you callin’ my calves fat?!
Hmmph.
( 😉 )
ha, ha, ha… you two!!
Ohmigosh, how sweet you are!! Thank you so much, William. So, so much!
Oh, this is sweet, Marie!
Lovely Marie! I love that same line William quoted – so perfect.
Fun Memories – Now I must run and catch my day. Back for more later..
Love this!! “Welcomed as home and recognized as family…”such a beautiful thing. :)’s and so glad you’re both back there again.
Thanks Hannah. Me too!
and… such a Lovely title!!!
TIDE POOL
Tide in, tide out,
life swims about,
contained within
one small rock bin.
One cannot flout
tide in, tide out:
life’s thread wears thin
herein, akin
to old, worn skin.
Yet, life will win:
tide in, tide out,
life still has clout.
Like yang and yin,
life’s pause and spin
persists through doubt
tide in, tide out.
Lovely. Repeating the line “tide in, tide out” definitely adds a beauty to your poem.
I agree. Love the rhythm of the waves presented so well here.
Yes!
Love the rhythm of this one William.
Ditto to both comments… you seem to write with such ease in so many forms.
Thank you, but “seem” is the crucial word. I love forms because I need to work to make them work.
I hear ya, William. It isn’t easy for me either. In fact, it’s tedious, yet I enjoy it so very much.
I agree with Erin! I like that…it really works well for this poem!
I like the repetition–so effective!
Perfectly mimics the tide, William. Love it.
PROCRASTINATOR
I dream,
and then I rue,
for little do I do.
I’d best start participating
for time and tide aren’t waiting
copyright 2013, William Preston
I like your take on this. Very nice!
Ha ha ha! How true! 🙂
I can certainly relate to this.
Nicely done.
I can’t believe this about you, William!
THE WRECK AT LOW TIDE
Her bleached bones rise from the sand.
Why do ships and whales
come ashore?
copyright 2013, William Preston
Why, indeed… 😦
Nice.
Oh, this is such a poignant image…painful, too.
Indeed.
Very!!
AT THUNDER HOLE, ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
When air and tide
conspire just right,
the place is quite
the sound and sight:
it roars and splashes
magnificently;
one needs galoshes,
as though at sea.
But when the tide
has gone far out,
those caves and rocks
all lose their clout
for then the sound
is soft as mulch:
this hole becomes
a gurgle gulch.
copyright 2013, William Preston
I see you are on a roll today. Another fun one, love the rhyming and the way you use the words to give the feel of “loud” and the feel of “quiet”. Well done.
He’s on a roll every day! This is another very good poem, William. 🙂
Thanks, both of you. This one was fun; sort of a sestina withdrawl, you might say.
lol, sestina withDRAWL… they do kind of drawl/drone on, don’t they? I’m not sure I like the form but write them anyway.
You are on a roll EVERY day. More excellence!
I’d like to visit this place!
Me too!!
Soothing the Soul
The rhythmic rolling
of the tides
soothes my lonely soul,
filling me
with a peace inside
of which
I will not let go.
The rhythmic rolling
of the tides
makes me feel a part,
of something
bigger than myself,
it fills
my lonely, little heart.
The rhythmic rolling
of the tides
answers her beck and call,
Mother Nature
knows the best cure for
lonely hearts
is to slowly breach the wall.
The rhythmic rolling
of the tides
simply soothes my soul.
OH, I so relate to that. So beautifully written. Thanks. 🙂
Lovely. Feels like a lullaby.
Thank you both. 🙂
Beautifully stated. I love how you repeat the first line!
Yes, it isn’t only the sound of the ocean but the motion, too, which is so soothing
The rhythmic rolling
of the tides
makes me feel a part,
of something
bigger than myself,
This resonates with me…beautiful work, Michelle!
Thanks Erin, Debi and Hannah! 🙂
Soothing. Love it!
Oh, perfect title!!
Agree with William. Sounds like a soothing lullaby.
Kyrielle (8 beats per line
AaaB ccbB ddbB AB)
Psalm 104: 5a, 6a
The tide chases after the moon,
relentless and melodious tune
is played out steadily as planned
to catch moon beams to sweep the sand.
So mighty in its ebb and flow,
its mesmerizing call to go,
to step into its rhythm, and
to catch moon beams to sweep the sand
Something of which I can depend
that calls me, bids me as a friend,
abandon al l constraints of land,
to catch moon beams to sweep the sand.
The tide chases after the moon
to catch moon beams to sweep the sand.
Here’s another form I didn’t know. (I checked the site’s list this time, though.) Such a lovely, lyrical job.
!! Yes, lyrical, my friend!!
Thanks My Friend. 🙂
Thanks WP – Glad you found the list of forms. I find them enjoyable to use.
I love this form! And this is beautiful, M! ❤
Beautiful, Marjory!! Great form as well!
Thanks Erin and Hannah – the repeat just seem to speak of the tide. 🙂
One of my favorite forms, and you did it justice.
Thank You, Marie – This month is a great way to have a go at some of the forms presented this past year.
Such beautiful words melding right into the form.
Thanks Sara, Glad you enjoyed it
Lovely Marjory.
Glad you like it Michelle, Thanks.
Great prompt! Posted a new Tide poem on my blog at http://pm27.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/fundy-is-fabulous/
Back later to read some more!
Nice! I love the picture- would love to see that in person!
I’m with you, Debi! Wouldn’t that be cool?
Me too!!
[…] Written for Poetic Bloomings “Life is a Beach” – Day 15: Tides. […]
THE GRAVITY OF IT ALL
Unconcerned
about wars
or famine,
unaffected
by discrimination
or violence, and
oblivious
of broken hearts,
the sun still
rises and sets,
the tide
goes in and out.
2013-07-15
P. Wanken
Despite the serious tone, your title broke me up.
I can’t help a little word play now and then. It helps balance the serious tones running as the undercurrent of my life.
Beautiful truths, Paula…
Thanks.
Love this Paula! The whole package!
Glad you enjoyed it, Michelle. ❤
My favorite of the day, in its excellence and completely different/creative take.
Wow – thanks, Marie. Unfortunately I am only able to eke out enough time in my day to write my response to the prompt and don’t get back to see what others are doing. I’m thankful for the WordPress feature that alerts me to comments, but it makes it “easier” to just type this reply rather than going back to the blog. (Saves time in replying, though.) With that said, knowing the quality of work that gets posted here, to have something deemed as your favorite of the day — I’m truly quite honored.
Oh… and it’s just so… Reassuring…:) !!
Yes, if I’m not feeling reassured, I just write things that help me feel reassured. 😉
Life is a Beach: Tidal Wave
My hasty heart was hushed; put out to sea
and never, will my love return to thee.
A thousand ships be dashed upon your shore
but never, ever will I sailor be!
Upon the tide that’s pulled by this moon’s lore
prediction knows no heart could love you more.
My heart was full and rushing to your side
but empty now, there’s no love left to soar.
I float upon this sea of rising tide:
psunami of my soul is now the bride.
So many tears to drown a broiling sea;
that space between us, overflowing, wide.
(Rubaiyat Form)
Lovely poem, Jackie!!
I love these:
“Upon the tide that’s pulled by this moon’s lore
prediction knows no heart could love you more.”
Wow. Classic work here.
“Classic” is a good word for it.
EXCELLENT.
Beautiful, Jackie, as always! Poignant and sad…
thanks, all. A shame I had to misspell Tsunami…
I agree…
Love this. I forgot how lovely that form is.
Wow I am overwhelmed and a little overawed by the quality of poetry and the range of form on this post ~ I was going to venture to add a poem on tides but I think it needs a great deal more work now that I have seen the offerings of your group!
Oh, please do share with us, heavenhappens!! We’re a varied bunch for sure and very welcoming…we’d love to read you here. :)’s to you!
I agree with Hannah. Please post your poem! 🙂
Yes, welcome!!
HeavenHappens, if you have read our “Welcome!” tab above, you will know that we are receptive to poets of all ages and skill levels. And you’d be surprised how many of these poets came in thinking exactly like you have. They have found quickly that their work is as “worthy” and well read as every other. Marie and I welcome you to post your poems. We will treat your words with TLC and support your efforts. Please reconsider your stance. You will be bolstered by your decision.
ABSOLUTELY.
Thank you Walt, I will certainly post you one of the poems that I feel is straight from my heart so you can advise me on how to go forward and get better x
Thanks Walt I have now posted a poem on Waves of Emotion and look forward to your comments
Do dive in the water is refreshing and friendly, full of love.
Will do marjorie x
You will be happy when you join this wonderful group, and we will be happy to have you.
[…] LIFE IS A BEACH – TIDES-Poetic Bloomings […]
I’m off for the rest of the day…life calls!! 🙂
🙂 !!
Spiral…Sync or Swim
~
I see her growing
steadily each day,
expectant with rising light
I feel her gravity
gaining strength daily.
I realize her in the rushes
as she pulls and pushes,
molds pliable water.
I’m grateful for her,
thankful for her graceful gait
as she carries on through space-
alongside us-keeping everything in place.
She gathers the sea in great salty gulps
and releases her breath
in timed tides again and again.
The onus of ocean is given over,
we’re reliant upon the broad
and beautiful-spherical face,
we trust her natural magic.
I blow a kiss from this sandy shore
toward the visible day-crescent;
I’m wooed of her creative curve,
moved by the sun-lit moon.
~
Copyright © Hannah Gosselin 2013
Diana must love this.
:)!! I hope so!! Thankful for this comment=caused me to look at Diana again…I love mythology! Thank you!
Just soo Beautiful!!!
This is breathtaking! As William said, Diana must love it… 🙂
Love this Hannah! Simply beautiful.
*sigh*
Such beauty, always always always.
♥ Thank you, Marie….(and everyone else too who daily inspire and create such an amazing space to be a part of).
Tides
Earth rotates
Moon and Sun exert gravity
Sea rises and falls
Weeks go round
Trials versus blessings
Moods rise and fall
You captured in brevity just what I was thinking about before I started writing…great poem, Connie!
This piece is striking for me because it links tides with moods, and some think they’re connected.
Oh, I agree!!
Wonderful, Connie, and written with such simple charm!
Yes, I agree!
Well done, Connie!
TIDES
Rising and falling, sea birds calling
a trill, shrill and resounding.
Surrounding the shore,
seaweed tossed and sands
of lost childhood, decay.
On a good day, you can see
clear across to Canada,
a cyclical sonata awash
in rushes and retreats.
Beneath the feet of beachcombers,
the warmth of a million suns baking,
taking shells and driftwood;
a good haul for an early spring.
Still, the gulls sing a redundant song,
strong and shrieking. Another wave rises,
then beats a hasty withdrawal. Through it all
you breathe the freshness abounding,
Rising and falling, your chest
duplicates the lunar lambada
of the Great Lake. Waters rake
the moistened sand on its departure.
Sunsets and crashes leaving colorful dashes
across the glinted surf. Tides return
to where they had come as the night descends.
Another day ends in the swell of tides.
Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.
Yes!!
When I mentioned this blog to a friend, she looked it up, having not been familiar with it. I don’t know if she has followed it since or not, but she did encourage me to pay attention to your work, which she already knew. I can see why she said that; your work sings.
You really are a master at using all those internal rhymes. It definitely adds a lot to your work. 🙂
Song in progress? I love the last line.
Two Poems for Tides
Chasing Tides
We chased tides
Turning on moonbeams
Chaste we remained
All the summer long
~ ~ ~
A Lucky Tide
Just after lunch
when the tide was at low,
I pondered slight pools of shallow flow,
and I told each crab and mussel and whelk
just how lucky they were that my stomach
was still and completely full.
These are both darling, Misk!
Yes, indeed.
🙂 !!
Delightful! Especially that second one. 😉
This morning’s surgical procedure equated to the pull of the tide.
I left you a comment on your blog, Walt; I hope all is well!
Which blog, Hen? I’m not finding it!
The link above… it says “comment is awaiting moderation”.
I hope you all check out Walt’s link above. His poem is (not surprisingly) magnificent … in spite of the drifting in and out. 😉
Your poem is spot on; I recall similar feelings. Mainly, though, I hope all is well and will be well.
[…] “Tides” MB © […]
Tide-bound
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” William Shakespeare
Brutus made a leap of faith
ignoring fickle floating barks
tossed up by oratory’s waves,
ignoring tides and undertows
tripped shallow feet under his nose,
and ides.
It’s clear a thought needs depth for float,
before a pilot can engage,
but ships of state go oft’ awry
as humans tangle with the sky,
forgetting that moon’s changing eye
makes tides.
Our misadventured history
suggests that we know well the swell
of tides inside our own affairs,
but rip currents we cannot tell
from any other surging hell
that bides.
So revolutions found at sea
are often at hurricanes’ eyes,
whose central calm teases our mind.
We leap into flood waters blind,
fool-hardy, thinking on our kind
hope rides.
Deep perfection, Jane. Love this form as well.
…yes…
You put a lot of thought into this one. The eye and the eye of the hurricane imagery are startling. Much power here.
Very powerful piece, Jane! And I have always loved that Shakespeare quote – first thing that popped into my head at the word “tide”
Blood Tide
Our blood marks phases of the moon,
an inner howling surging
when silver disk is full, and soon,
we follow tidal urging.
We know the muscle of the tides,
as flood and ebb continue.
We know this push and pull abides
in every human venue.
So rip tide, undertow, and love
can still upend our thinking.
We’re tracked by moonbeams from above
that guide our hearts to linking.
We feel the currents roll and move;
the tides that dance within us
erode our barriers to love,
then gently smooth and bend us.
“We’re tracked by moonbeams from above that guide our hearts to linking.”
Beautiful.
Amen to that. I also was struck by the tides eroding barriers; I tend to forget that tides, like other continual movements of water, have steady power. This is another superb piece of work. But then, what else is new?
Oh, your last stanza… Gorgeous!!
Yes!!
Poem-making (A Cento in prose form)
“…One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea. Erased by today’s tides of all yesterday’s scribblings. …One never knows what chance treasure these easy unconscious rollers may toss up, on the smooth white sand of the conscious mind; what perfectly rounded stone, what rare shell from the ocean floor. Perhaps a channeled whelk, a moon shell, or even an argonaut…”
(Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Twentieth Anniversary Edition, Gift From The Sea, 1975)
“channeled”
It keeps correcting Mrs. Lindbergh’s spelling!
What does it know?
Not much…
HEN! This is so different for you … unlike anything I’ve read from your pen. Not that I don’t always enjoy your work mind you, but this is an AMAZING piece. Wow!
meg
Thank you, so much, Meg… I was just rereading her little book; my husband gave it to me many, many years ago… My pen sometimes surprises me too…
This is wonderful. I always felt that Anne Morrow Lindbergh had a poet’s soul; you’ve shown that, amply, in this work.
Thank you, William, I agree… she has lived through such tremendous sorrow…
Love this, Hen! And I agree with Marie: it is unexpected from you. 😉
Mysterious Tide
A tide pool rests, private
island on Cannon Beach. At times,
you can walk through from sand
to silt, and set your toes into basin.
When the tide shifts, you see
a mirage. There stands the tide
pool, cannot be far out,
until you set forth and keep going.
I love how you capture the mystery of the tide! Beautiful!
Thanks, Erin!
[…] …. Written for Poetic Bloomings, Day 15. … […]
Ebbed
Luna
How you tugga
At my heart
And my ocean
Shine me a smile
And make this darkness
Ebb away
Tide
One sunny day Clyde
Took himself a ride
Down to the seaside
To ride the rising tide
Unfortunately Clyde
Couldn’t ride the tide
In fact, he almost died
The day the tide beat Clyde
© 2013 Earl Parsons