What do we plant when we plant the tree? We plant the ship that will cross the sea, we plant the mast to carry the sails, we plant the planks to withstand the gales--the keel, the keelson, and beam and knee--we plant the ship when we plant the tree.
~Henry Abbey
Happy Poetry Friday! I am scheduling this post ahead of time! By the time you read this, I will be in the Granite State* visiting family and friends. Today's poem is by Robert Bly:
Boards on the Ground
by Robert Bly
I
I love to see boards lying on the ground in early spring;
The ground beneath them is wet, and muddy-
Perhaps covered with chicken tracks-
And they are dry and eternal.
II
This is the wood one sees on the decks of ocean ships,
Wood that carries us far from land...
read the rest here
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*New Hampshire
Reflections on the Teche has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Margaret!
Hooray for New Hampshire! Love that state. Enjoy your family. I've enjoyed 'Boards on the Ground.' Planting a ship...now there's an idea!
ReplyDeleteFunny, yesterday we saw a pile of boards, and DH and I instantly started arranging them, building, dreaming... thank you, Tab, and hope you're having a good family time. xo
ReplyDeleteHmm... I will look for wood in my forest tomorrow. Enjoy your vacay!
ReplyDeleteOn our beach in Costa Rica, the strong Pacific brought many boards and tree trunks, pieces of wood. We gathered some to create a few pieces, wished we could tote them home! And we talked of where they may have come from. I wish I'd had the poem then. Happy vacation to you, Tabatha!
ReplyDelete"This wood is like a man who has a simple life,
ReplyDeleteLiving through the spring and winter on the ship of his own desire."
These lines -- happy sigh. Enjoy your travels!
I love the idea of planting a tree that becomes a ship that carries...Have a wonderful vacation!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this post! Relates to a current poetic project I'm just starting to conjure up... thank you! ;0) Fair winds to you on your trip - Enjoy! XO
ReplyDeleteI love the interweaving in Bly's poem "The ship of his own desire," thanks for sharing both poems. Wishing you a happy family/friend visit!
ReplyDeleteTabatha, may your vacation allow you to enjoy "a simple life-
ReplyDeleteLiving through August on the ship of your own desire."
Thanks for sharing - I love the ideas of endless possibilities in simple things and also the circular nature of the universe, both captured so well in the poems you have chosen.
ReplyDeleteHappy travels and visits! I adore the idea of planting ships when planting trees. We also plant the paper in our writer's notebooks, and the case around the graphite in our pencils. (I think I feel a poem coming on...)
ReplyDelete