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She wanders the shore
Listening to the waves’
rise and fall
And the sounds of stories
That wash onto this beach
Where she stands
From far lands they have
Ridden the waves
To be with her
Gratefully she stoops
To gather them
Where they lie
Among the shells
And the foams' whiteness
Soon her baskets will be
full
She wanders the shore
Listening to the murmurs
And the secret whispers:
All the tales of the world
That drift in with the
tide
From the great and giving
ocean of stories.
Photo Princess Angeline (Duwamish) in 1896 by Edward S. Curtis
What a beautiful poem. I read this many times and each time it is as fresh as the first. Joseph
ReplyDeleteDear Joseph, thank you for your heartfelt appreciation for this poem. You say you read it many times and each time it is as fresh as the first.
ReplyDeleteThese are the rewards both of reading and writing poetry, that it offers us something fresh each time. The photograph by Edward Curtis of Princess Angelina, the daughter of Chief Seattle, has given me so much inspiration over the years and for me your comment can equally apply to Curtis his photo as to my poem which it inspired.
Emma there is almost no other poem that you have written that depicts your spirit so well. I see you as Princess Angelina each time I close my eyes and imagine the Pacific Ocean. I observed you walking the shoreline on the Oregon Coast and I photographed you at least a hundred times while you were wandering the shoreline, while you were listening to the murmurs of the sea. You walked with her. She walked with you. I saw it. I felt it. I knew it. A soul sister who was happy to see you and walk with you. "She Wanders the Shore" is you. I pray that your basket of secret whispers and ocean of stories will never fill up and that we, as your faithful readers, can continue our walk along side of you forever. Beautiful poem Emma and one that will always remain deeply lodged inside my heart.
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