Progressive Poem - Moving On

            The wonderful Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem, the creative idea of Irene Latham of Live Your Poem, began three years ago. It's both exciting and nerve-wracking to participate. Today it's my turn to add a line to the story filled already with adventure in the seemingly calm waters of a bayou. I must have written dozens of lines before I finally thought "done".  Here a young girl changes before our eyes, acquires a tail and adventures into the water, only to meet a lone fisherman. A connection of turquoise eyes has been noted, but yesterday Sheila left me to fill that fisherman's hands as the girl slips through them. I thought of the fish-quickness of a mermaid in the water, the trailing hair, smooth scales. Instead, I added a long-ago memory of the fisherman. . .

She lives without a net, walking along the alluvium of the delta.

Shoes swing over her shoulder, on her bare feet stick jeweled flecks of dark mica.

Hands faster than fish swing at the ends of bare brown arms. Her hair flows,

snows in wild wind as she digs in the indigo varnished handbag,

pulls out her grandmother's oval cuffed bracelet,

strokes the turquoise stones, and steps through the curved doorway.

Tripping on her tail she slips hair first down the slide... splash!

She glides past glossy water hyacinth to shimmer with a school of shad,

listens to the ibises roosting in the trees of the cypress swamp

an echo of Grandmother's words, still fresh in her windswept memory.

Born from the oyster, expect the pearl.  

Reach for the rainbow reflection on the smallest dewdrop.

The surface glistens, a shadow slips above her head, a paddle dips

she reaches, seizes. She’s electric energy and turquoise eyes.  

Lifted high, she gulps strange air - stares clearly into

Green pirogue, crawfish trap, startled fisherman

with turquoise eyes, twins of her own, riveted on her wrist–

She's swifter than a dolphin, slipping away, leaving him only a handful of

memories of his own grandmother’s counsel: Watch for her. You’ll have but one chance to

          Here's to the next step, Penny Klosterman!

2015 Kidlitosphere

Progressive Poem

1 Jone at Check it Out

2 Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy

3 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

4 Laura at Writing the World for Kids

5 Charles at Poetry Time Blog

6 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page

7 Catherine at Catherine Johnson

8 Irene at Live Your Poem

9 Mary Lee at Poetrepository

10 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty

11 Kim at Flukeprints

12 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche

13 Doraine at DoriReads

14 Renee at No Water River

15 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge

16 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town

17 Buffy at Buffy's Blog

18 Sheila at Sheila Renfro

19 Linda at Teacher Dance

20 Penny at A Penny and her Jots

21 Tara at A Teaching Life

22 Pat at Writer on a Horse

23 Tamera at The Writer's Whimsy

24 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

25 Tabatha at The Opposite of indifference

26 Brian at Walk the Walk

27 Jan at Bookseedstudio

28 Amy at The Poem Farm

29 Donna at Mainely Write

30 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme

Some of us are sharing on twitter with the hashtag #DigiPoetry, created by Margaret Simon, of Reflections on The Teche.You're welcome to join us. And be sure to find other Poetry Month offerings rounded up by Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.