
My poem today was inspired by
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, edited by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. Doesn't the title alone sound wonderful?
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. It reads like a travelogue of places you might be able to actually visit.
The Sea of Frozen Words was invented by François Rabelais in
Le quart livre des faicts et dicts du bon Pantagruel, 1552. I used it as the springboard for the following poem:
THE SEA OF FROZEN WORDS
by Tabatha Yeatts
If you were to visit the Sea of Frozen Words
on any winter day,
you would see camera-draped tourists
embark from their sleds, radiant,
taking in the frigid air.
With gloved hands clutching picks and shovels,
they scratch their way to the letters,
seeking out their favorites,
the flavors that they can't forget.
They take pictures of each other, smiling,
holding up their glistening trophies.
Some people get a taste of laughter and dream of it all year.
Others find that confessions of love
fill their mouths with the most delicious sensations.
Risk-takers and thrill-seekers dig up desperate pleas,
heated arguments,
last words.
If you wait too close to spring,
you might miss your chance,
and only be able to hear
the remaining, hidden words
as they melt and float away:
sounds of bargaining and breakfast,
sounds of battles and birth,
sounds of the first night of winter
when people plan trips to the
Sea of Frozen Words
by singing out the most delectable sounds they know.
~~~
Sara is hosting the Poetry Friday round-up today.