August (Monday Poem)

 by Mary Oliver

When the blackberries hang

swollen in the woods, in the brambles

nobody owns, I spend

all day among the high

branches, reaching

my ripped arms, thinking

of nothing, cramming

the black honey of summer

into my mouth; all day my body

accepts what it is. In the dark

creeks that run by there is

this thick paw of my life darting among

the black bells, the leaves; there is

this happy tongue.

from Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver, by Mary Oliver

Penguin Random House, 2017

Let Me Go (Monday Poem)

by Christina Rosetti

 

 

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

 

 Miss me a little, but not for long

And not with your head bowed low

Remember the love that once we shared

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take

And each must go alone

It's all part of the master plan

A step on the road to home.

 

When you are lonely and sick at heart

Go to the friends we know.

Laugh at all the things we used to do

Miss me but let me go.

 

 

(In honor and memory of my dear sister, Cathy Christine Shank, who completed her life. ALS is a cruel disease.)

Catching a Wave (Monday Poem)

 by Nicola Davies

When you catch a wave, you want to shout!

When you catch a wave, you want to sing!

When you catch a wave, you want to dance!

When you catch a wave, all you want to do . . .

is catch another.

from A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies

Candlewick Press, 2018

Waiting for the Wave

 by Nicola Davies

Your board bobs beyond the break zone.

On either side, your feet dangle like pale fish.

In all the world, there is only you.

The sky.

The sea.

This moment.

from A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies

Candlewick Press, 2018

Finding Shells (Monday Poem)

 by Nicola Davies

There's no special trick to finding seashells.

All you have to do is look.

It's hard at first, but soon your eyes

will start to notice tiny details

and you'll pick up little bits of beauty.

Let your heart sing for a moment,

then put them back:

someone else might need them.

from A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies

Candlewick Press, 2018

Sea Turtle (Monday Poem)

 by Nicola Davies

It was a flat, calm day, and we floated

on water at least nine thousand feet deep

and two days sail to any land.

A turtle, smaller than a soup bowl,

passed us by. It swam on and on,

and disappeared from sight.

From horizon to horizon,

there was nothing but the sea

and that small turtle,

steering its straight, sure course.

from A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies

Candlewick Press, 2018

Sargasso (Monday Poem)

 by Nicola Davies

The Sargasso is a sea without a shore:

a giant whirl of water,

caught by swirling currents.

You'll know you are there

when floating weed surrounds you.

Yellow-gold and green, it tangles

in the waves and sunlight,

full of life!

from A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies

Candlewick Press, 2018