Month: June 2019

Poetry Friday: Joy Harjo’s “Eagle Poem”

Catherine Flynn11 Comments

“We see you, see ourselves and know
that we must take the utmost care
and kindness in all things.”
~ Joy Harjo ~

Today I’m celebrating the appointment of Joy Harjo as our nation’s new Poet Laureate. I have long been a fan of Harjo’s poetry, and can’t think of a better person to “raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of reading and writing poetry” at this moment when our country is so divided. Harjo has said that “humanizing and healing will be her aims” as Poet Laureate. I’m with you, Ms. Harjo!

Eagle Poem
by Joy Harjo

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear,
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.

Read the rest here.

Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)This image was made by Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)Email the author: David R. TribbleAlso see my personal gallery at Google Photos [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D via Wikimedia Commons
Coincidentally, yesterday was American Eagle Day. This day commemorates the adoption of the Great Seal of the United States and its iconic bald eagle by the Second Continental Congress on June 20, 1782.

Please be sure to visit my friend Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise for the Poetry Friday Roundup!

Poetry Friday: “Meditations of a Tortoise”

Catherine Flynn11 Comments

Last weekend, I found a beautiful box turtle while I was out for a walk. She was on the edge of the road, headed for a busy intersection, so I walked along beside her, ready to help her if needed. She found her way without my help, but I enjoyed our time together. Of course she was an inspiration but I haven’t had much writing time this week, so I “found” a poem by gathering lines (with a few minor alterations) from poems about turtles by a few of my favorite poets.

The turtle hides
Inside her bony dome; her mobile home
She trusts that shell.
She seems to relish solitude
In a world of glimmering green:
A turtle in July.

In order, these lines are from:

“The Turtle” in Flutter and Hum by Julie Paschkis
“The Box Turtle” in Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs, by Douglas Florian
“Desert Tortoise” by Byrd Baylor
“Three T’s” by Mary Ann Hoberman
“A Bale of Turtles” by me
“Turtle in July” in Turtle in July by Marilyn Singer

During my search, I also came across “Meditations of a Tortoise” by E.V. Rieu.

MEDITATIONS
OF A TORTOISE
DOZING UNDER A ROSETREE
NEAR A BEEHIVE
AT NOON
WHILE
A DOG
SCAMPERS ABOUT
AND A CUCKOO CALLS 
FROM A 
DISTANT WOOD

So far as I can see
There is no one like me.

Please be on the lookout for turtles as you drive! Learn how to help them here. (Thank you, Margaret Simon!) Don’t forget to visit Michelle Kogan for the Poetry Friday Roundup.