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Hello Poets,
What a lovely spring these days for folks in my part of the world. I hope you are enjoying some time outside where you are too.
Last week, I traveled south to a part of the USA that I don't get to see very often, the Mississippi Delta. I loved walking up onto a levee. I'd never done that before. The river was swollen with spring rain and snow melt from up north. A road that connected both sides of the levee was flooded and there was a man fishing in the middle of it.
The fisherman wasn't having any luck catching the fish that were jumping just over the divided yellow line. As he walked up the levee toward me I smiled to say, hello and he greeted me with, how you be?
The resulting poem started as a skinny...but maybe, maybe I can get away with a reverso too?
Ole Man River
Jumpin’
Catfish
line
slackin’
hungry
catfish
love
some
grub
Catfish’
How you be?
Catfish
grub
some
love
catfish
hungry
slackin’
line’
catfish
jumpin’
Old man river, how you be?
Wonderful rhythm, Linda! I can just see those catfish jumpin'!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, you can get away with this! It's a jump rope rhyme and also maybe there's little more available in it with that flooded yellow-line road idea. Love, love, love, and I want to see the whole picture!
ReplyDeleteI love the reverso and with the extra repetition of catfish like ripples in the river--they are just teasing that fisherman! I feel the river vibe.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!! You had quite the adventure. How you be?
ReplyDeleteI love the rhythm of this poem and "How you be?" giving it a down home feel.
ReplyDeleteLinda, wow, you seem to have captured something I feel must be true about the Mississippi Delta. I love the friendly fisher and the patience. The photo helps to experience what you saw too. Backwards and forwards, your poem is a winner.
ReplyDeleteThe rhythm of this is DELIGHTFUL!
ReplyDeleteLinda, front and center your lines speak to me. Then I turn my thoughts upward and I get another delightful poem. This is a wonderful poem that children will love. What a fun skinny!
ReplyDeleteThis needs to be set to MUSIC! Sing it, girl!!
ReplyDeleteHow you be? I love it! I have to sing this poem, and it puts me right there in your experience. xo
ReplyDeleteLove the Jumpin' rhythm, Linda and the "How you be?" I agree with Laura it definitely sings, thanks for the 😊 !
ReplyDeleteI'm tapping my feet here, Linda!
ReplyDelete