The final Poetry Friday of April is hosted by Carol Varsalona at her blog, Beyond Literacy Link. She has the utmost pleasure of living near the ocean, and shares a marvelous poem, with pictures and a video, about the fog encountered there recently, her "Sweatshirt-Gray Day". Thanks, Carol, for hosting and for the ocean visit!
Back to the book and Making Connections
Tabatha Yeatts has created a link to poems teachers and librarians can print for poetry month, titled "Poetry in The Halls". I'm grateful to be one of the poets!
Tabatha Yeatts has created a link to poems teachers and librarians can print for poetry month, titled "Poetry in The Halls". I'm grateful to be one of the poets!
Jama Rattigan has a post HERE with many poets' goals for April.
The Progressive Poem schedule can be found on the right.
I visited our Museum of Nature and Science with Imogene on Wednesday. We wanted to see the newest exhibit about the five senses. You may have seen the pictures on social media.
Since then, I have thought more about Imi's and my conversation about the lines, how what we saw made changes in the way we felt in some of the rooms, the way our "seeing" changed perception. I connected to our current political climate, the talk of the Deep Web, the difficulty of seeing something that may be manipulated as truth, but is not true, and how we cannot tell the difference. Imi decided she might be dizzy if she looked long enough. Isn't that the same thing?
Wolfram MathWorld defines a line here as "A line is a straight one-dimensional figure having no thickness and extending infinitely in both directions. A line is sometimes called a straight line or, more archaically, a right line (Casey 1893), to emphasize that it has no "wiggles" anywhere along its length. While lines are intrinsically one-dimensional objects, they may be embedded in higher dimensional spaces.
On a different note, as I scroll up & down, the small lines in the background of the picture on the left are flashing, something that is new I think because we can "move" that mural. Wow!
Lines
If you twist a line -
that straight one.
If you twist a line
of words, you might
find you’re bending,
bending truth.
If you bend truth,
you may find you’re
falling, falling off a cliff,
the cliff that ends with clarity
or not, perhaps only
or not, perhaps only
falling into uncharted lands.
It may be a challenge
to keep from veering,
veering off the mark.
But inside your heart,
you’ll know the path
fixed by a ruler
makes a true mark.
Linda Baie ©
There must be something about lines and illusions - because I've seen something similar advertised at our local gallery. (And actually, it too did trippy things when I scrolled-up a picture on instagram.) Loving all the wordplay interwoven in your clever poem.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kat, it was an amazing exhibition and fun to think about illusions in this.
DeleteLinda, the photo of lines you took does move as I scrolled up and down. It is remarkable that from this mural you captured the way perceptions change through your poetry. I have read your poem several times and will keep pondering your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol, it was a delightful exhibit & much fun to write about the connection.
DeleteInteresting connection you made about bending the truth -- definitely "dizzy-making!" Love the photo of Imi -- looks like it was a fascinating exhibit! The last four lines of the poem are brilliant (what you know in your heart to be true . . . )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jama, watching the news, and then this exhibit and talking about our illusions made the poem. Telling truth is so important to me.
DeleteThank you for this thoughtful poem. I worry a lot about bending the line of words and falling off a cliff. I also worry that some people's path is all about the bending of those words. I hope and wish that more would follow their heart's path to a true mark.
ReplyDeleteI wish that, too, Cheriee, wishing hard for others to stop the bending of truth & tell it right. Thanks!
DeleteSomething in this makes me think of Alice in Wonderland. How curious! It looks like an incredible exhibit and sounds like quite a conversation.
ReplyDeleteWe did have much to talk about, and yes, Alice In Wonderland and that 'rabbit hole' certainly can be connected. Thanks, Liz.
DeleteI love all the twisting, bending, and layering in your poem, Linda. It leaves me with a dizzy feeling similar to the one I feel when I stare too long at the photos. Imi is a smart girl with a grandma who won't steer her wrong.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle. Ingrid and I went today, trying to get to the zoo, but it was too crowded! So we went back to the museum, first the Da Vinci exhibit, then a bit of this senses one. Here again was talk about truth. A huge part of the exhibit for Da Vinci has to do with the fallacies and that twisting, bending of truth discovered in the Mona Lisa painting, fascinating. Ingrid is much taken with that painting, so this was great for her. The machine replicas were wonderful, too.
DeleteI love the combination of photos and poem, and the conversation with your granddaughter.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ruth, observing such exhibits is quite illuminating, for me and for the young ones.
DeleteLucky grand girls to visit and explore the museum with you. Oh, how I long for lines that don't veer and that make a true mark in our public discourse. It's hard to face what is happening, but we can't give up the hope for more right lines. Thanks for a poem that made me think.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ramona. I ended up in the museum again yesterday because the zoo was too full. Yes, I want some truth today, too!
DeleteIntriguing poem and exhibit–I like the hand sticking out of the squiggly line exhibit space, and your conversations with your granddaughter too–she's soaking it all in like a sponge, thanks Linda!
ReplyDeleteThanks, happy you saw that hand. It was Imi's idea to do it.
DeleteGood Saturday morning...my Friday ended so late yesterday that I'm waking up to poetry. These lines are a bit of kick early in the morning! Dizzy? Yes.
ReplyDeleteI too worry about lines in our political world...how communication has become manipulation. I want to reclaim that clarity--without falling off a cliff. You give me good food for a thoughtful breakfast. Thanks friend. I love how much love your grands get from you. I am inspired!
Good morning from me, Linda! Glad that you have poetry to start your day! Thanks for coming by!
DeleteThis poem really speaks to me. I am going through a situation that does have me feeling like I am veering from my charted course. Your poem gives me clarity. Thanks, Linda!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that this really touches you, Kiesha. Best wishes in your journey! And thanks for sharing.
DeleteClever word play and for deep thoughts to ponder in your poem, Linda. After all the twisting, turning, bending, veering... I love the rock bottom certainty of your final lines.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alice. The poem reflects important beliefs.
DeleteI love how in your poem you went from twisting and bending and veering lines to making the parallel of doing the same with the truth. How fun to have young museum-going companions!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary Lee, it feels like an apt connection, and yes, love going to the museum with the girls.
DeleteWhile I enjoyed the word play in your poem, I will be coming back to the truths it tells. Just like the illusions in the museum, so many people today are twisting the truth until it seems all reality distorts.
ReplyDeleteOn a trip to Denver last fall for my cousins wedding, we lucked into a visit to the Museum of Nature and Science. We went in not knowing what to expect (almost everyone we met recommended it) and absolutely loved it.
How wonderful that you were able to experience our wonderful museum. The girls, Imogene especially, and I go very often. Luckily for us, it sits between our homes, just minutes away. I'm glad you told me, Kay! Thanks!
DeleteI like how you took your museum experience to the next level, seeing lines as directions to truth or not. The repeated words work well for the mood of this poem. I did get dizzy looking at the picture where the lines flashed. Crazy!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret, it was quite an experience, then the conversation, too. I needed to write!
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