The Many Ways Water Moves to the Sea
It lingers—
it lifts,
it lifts,
becomes cloud.
Then it loosens.
It dazzles.
It drips.
It drenches
the moss,
the murmuring
crows
at the ditch line.
at the ditch line.
It slides.
It slips.
It seeps—
It rains.
It rests.
It remembers the sky,
then—
It runs.
It rises.
It rushes,
wearing stone
to silence—
It grows, glows.
It gathers.
It gathers.
It gulps
the light,
the dark.
the dark.
It hums.
It holds. It hurls
against its heaving,
heading
some-
how
home.
some-
how
home.
32 thoughts on "The Many Ways Water Moves to the Sea"
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“It rushes,
wearing stone
to silence—”
I love the aforementioned line and the way you personify the flow of water. Thank you for taking the time to structure the poem the way you did, it really adds to the impact of the piece.
Thank you! I think on revision I might make it a little more creek-y!
You capture the water’s movement perfectly. What a stunning poem.
Thanks so much! Its been on my mind for a while!
Shaun, wow!
Thank you, Coleman!
This different than many of your poems. I love it! I love how the poem feels like droplets of water. The alliteration is great. I fully experience this poem.
Thank you, Linda! I really wanted to try something new that’s been rattling around my head all year.
Delicious, Shaun. A fantastic sound poem that also has a qualities of a concrete visual poem. You have really kicked it up a notch this June. You go, boy!
Thanks, Kevin! This time of year has me at my most generative because of this community.
This might be my favorite poem about water. Beautiful work!
Wow, thank you so much, Morgan!
It rushes,
wearing stone
to silence—
That is my favorite passage. What I love best about the poem is that, despite how destructive water can be, the poem humanizes water in its attempt to return home.
Thanks, Dr. Bedetti. I was definitely thinking about all of the ways and words we have to talk about water and how much life they give it.
Hit enter too soon–and I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface of words!
I love the energy in this poem from both the words and the form.
Thanks so much, Nancy!
The form makes this poem come alive.
Thanks, Linda! I have never done much with shape so I appreciate it!
Love all the movements of alliteration in this.
Thanks, Chelsie!
Love the imagery of:
“It drenches
the moss,
the murmuring
crows
at the ditch line.”
I have a thing for moss and crows.
Effective repeated sounds, and the list of verbs, like a litany.
I do too–and ditch lines, if I’m being honest! Thank you!
OMG, Saun! Please believe that All afternoon yesterday, my head was playing with poem phrases moving like…”It comes/It goes/It hardly knows…” etc.. but it didn’t finish. AND…Our eldest son’s name is Sawn (as he spells it, tho legally it’s Sean). Too many co-incidence going on here!still, aside from all that, i applaud the rythmic motion , imagery, layout, musal word choices that are also so descriptive. Wonderful poem!
Ssorry, Shaun, for ms-spelly your hame. My blood sugar’s dropped to 47 as ‘ve typed all this
Thanks so much! I take any spelling of my name–and I do feel like we must be on a similar wavelink.
loving the music and the image conveyed by the wonderful sounds
Thanks so much, River!
favorite of all these beautiful lines:
It rises.
It rushes,
wearing stone
to silence—
Thank you, Pam!
Your poem splashes the reader as it is read, and I love that. When thinking about water, we may not consider it has a journey, but your language and imagery and sound shows that it does, eventually heading “home.”
Wonderful movement, diction, and energy that really capture the essence of water! The flow is lovely and made me want to keep reading.