Mario Milosevic: When I Was

First, I have to tell you about a neat poetry-creating form called Newspaper Blackouts. You take a newspaper article and a Sharpie or black crayon and black out everything that you DON'T want in your poem. (OK, first you might want to go through and put little dots next to the words you want to save.) Sounds like fun to me. There's a video about the Blackout Poet here. Thanks to A Year of Reading for sharing info about these kinds of poems.

Now, on to our poem. It's a beauty:

When I Was
by Mario Milosevic

When I was a bear
I filled the world.
My paws were wide,
and I walked large.
I ate all summer
and slept all winter,
dreaming of the time
when I was a dragonfly
and I wove the world.
Darting through air,
skimming over grass,
hovering on water,
my compound eyes
embroidering my dreams of the time
when I was a turtle
and I carried the world.
Walking slowly with the weight,
squat body on four thick legs,
hard shell holding me in,
keeping my dreams of the time
when I was a salmon
and I fed the world.
Sleek skin sliding down river throats,
pink flesh nourishing my cousins.
I swam upstream,
where death took me
and I swallowed my dreams of the time
when I was a tree
and I held the world.
Roots gripping soil,
branches embracing sky,
my vision
encompassing dreams of the time
when I was a raven
and I sang the world.
Single note struck from my throat,
pushed into air,
the sound a call to listen
to the unseen
and honor my dreams of the time
when I was a bear;
when I was a dragonfly;
when I was a turtle, a salmon, a tree;
when I was a raven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted with permission of the poet. This week's Poetry Friday round-up is at Great Kid Books.