Beth Camp Historical Fiction

Saturday, November 22, 2008

#138 Grateful . . .

I’m grateful for my cot.
It’s everything I’m not
portable, comfortable, and shiny.
I’ll disassemble it in just a month; I must
take all my courage. I’ll thrust
it into storage, where it shall not
travel south by plane like me,
where once again, I’ll be free
and on the road.

Instead I’ll fall limitless into summer – yahoo!
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru,
they all beckon me south,
filling my eyes, ears and mouth
with delicacies and dreams unexpected.
I only ask what harm,
with my writer’s notebook under my arm,
could I come to – so unprotected,
as I embark on a low-key, six-month travel,
what mysteries soon to unravel?

A teacher once told a student never to write a poem that rhymes. I say, “Why not?” Although I’m grateful for family and friends, for each day that brings sunshine, libraries, art, and writing into my life, and my husband most of all, even if he adores football, we’re getting ready to travel to South America for six months. We leave December 31st, so this poem came this morning as a kind of preparation, just in time to be grateful again to the wonderful community of writers on Sunday Scribblings!

17 comments:

  1. Hello Beth, I saw your scheme, well done. I am happy you have this chance to gain from this travel that is coming.

    There is a learning curve for rhyming. I have done enough of it to understand. The trouble with rhyme is that when it's bad or shallow or trite, it is so obviously all that. Free verse hides better...

    ...but I complain I can't write a song to save my life. I'm a fair musician and can make up melody all day long. I'm a poet of sorts, have written five already today. These gifts come from very different places in my brain, in my soul. It's just how it is. At 63, I don't think I'll find the links.

    Poets have different gifts perhaps.

    Rising Above

    I've no room for rhyme,
    Too busy, too fast, that's me.
    (I don't think I can).
    I'd never say that,
    Never say I lack some skill.
    No, I'm just busy.
    Can't be bothered, me.
    I'll stand aloof from it all,
    Rise above on gas.

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  2. i believe that putting limits on poetry is like limiting color to the primaries.. foolish.. controlling.. totally without vision...

    this was wonderful....

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  3. I wrote 172 rhyming poems before even trying free verse. When done right (and I have very few of those!) the sentence structure is natural and the rhymes are barely even evident. Yours is right!

    Have a fantastic time on your trip!

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  4. Nice post and provocative thoughts! Have a great trip!

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  5. Sounds like you have a terrific trip planned. And by the way, my take on rhyming poetry is that it makes the poem fun. Since this sounds like a fun trip, I say, why not make the poem rhyme? Fits it quite well, I'd say.

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  6. 'They all beckon me south, filling my eyes, my ears, my mouth.'

    That HAS to be written in rhyme.

    (I'm a rhyme junkie; tell your ex teacher there's a place for everything in this world!)

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  7. I love the poem...I feel like embarking on a low-key, six-month travel too.

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  8. Anonymous12:47 AM

    The knowledge and experience that comes from travel is better than any formal education.

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  9. Enjoy your trip.
    Never write a poem with rhyme? Why not? I do it a lot.

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  10. six months of travel sounds great.

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  11. Anonymous11:03 AM

    This was lovely...beautifully written. I liked the rhyming pattern you chose, it worked wonderfully.

    I am so jealous of your looming trip with writer's notebook in hand....I shall follow your journey with great interest!

    Bella :)

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  12. Love the way this rhymes! Anyway, Lucky you, Boliviar and Peru. Sounds like Champagne and Caviar! Have a great trip!

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  13. Anonymous4:31 PM

    Well done -- I am the opposite - verse is my challenge - you have something wonderful to look forward to - with your notebook --

    barbara

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  14. Have a great trip! How exciting! And as far as not writing rhyming poems goes, I believe that in writing, most rules were meant to be broken!

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  15. I'm with Rinky and Sunshine. Rhyme is fun. Have a wonderful trip and keep us posted.

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  16. i think rhyme is fun too, and i think it takes a lot of talent to make it work. enjoy your 6 months...what fun :)

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  17. Anonymous9:40 PM

    Wow! South Ameerica for six months! You do have a lot to bve thankful for.

    And I think rhyming is fun.

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