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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: My Beach is a Poem

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It’s Poetry Friday and, if you’ve read my last few posts, you’ll know I’ve been thinking a lot about what poetry is – with some surprising results, including last week’s comparison of poetry to chicken cacciatore.

Yesterday, as I took my morning walk on ‘my’ beach (I do share it with other locals, but sometimes it really does feel like it is there just for meeeeee). I thought for perhaps the millionth time how very beautiful it is, in all it’s different faces. The line ‘My beach is a poem’ came to me and, at home, this is what came out:

My beach is a poem:

laying out her

glories each morning;

welcoming me

to her sand.

 

My beach is a poem:

her  salty air

medicine

to soothe

my troubled mind.

 

My beach is a poem:

water like sparking jewels

spilling from

a sandy treasure chest.

 

My beach is a poem:

whispering waves

singing and crooning

their morning tune.

 

My beach is a poem.

(Sally Murphy, 2024)

As a first draft, I like it, and could see it being a useful mentor text, with each verse using a different poetic technique. and the repeated line ‘My ______ is a poem.’

Speaking of beaches, I am lucky enough to be heading off for the next week to visit the beautiful Rottnest Island (also known by its traditional name, Wadjemup) , for some snorkelling, some beach walking and, importantly some research and writing time. Feel sorry for me? You shouldn’t! I’d take you with me if I could.

Before I head off, I’m off to checkout the other Poetry Friday goodness. Margaret is hosting the weekly roundup.

Poetry Friday: Etheree trio

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Happy Friday! Last Friday, my Poetry Friday friend Linda shared  an etheree – a particular poetic form, where the first line has one syllable, the next line two and so on, all the way to ten. I had seen this form before but not played with it, but Linda’s lovely poem about her cat (you can see it here) inspired me to give it a go.

Another thing I’ve been inspired by this past year, is my beach visits. I have always found the beach restful and inspiring in equal measure, and in Covid times, those visits have taken on extra meaning. So, when I  decided to write an etheree and needed a single syllable word to begin with, there was only once choice. Here is what I came up with:

 

My Place

 

Beach

each day

different

one day calm, still

the next, crashing waves

one day leaping dolphins

next an exuberant seal

new sights, delights await each time

I visit; but one thing stays the same:

that beach never fails to make me wonder.

When I’d finished, I decided I’d like to also try my hand a reverse etheree – which starts with ten syllables and works back to one. I instantly wondered if I could take that last line of my first etheree and make it the first line of my reverse.  You can see I tweaked the first word, but here’s what came out:

Take Away

The beach never fails to make me wonder:

new sights and sounds on every visit

a seal, a dolphin, screeching gulls

gambolling dogs, chasing waves

that gently roll or else

loudly crash and bash.

So much to take

away when

home time

comes.

And then, just when I thought I was finished, I realised that I’d left something out – the people who share the beach with me. Nearly every day I see my beach-friend Dave, walking his dog Mitch, and there are other regulars – some I know by name, some I know by sight, and some people I see there just once.  And, of course, especially in the last year, I have loved sharing my beach through photos and videos shared here on my website and through social media, with people far and wide. It’s been a real privilege to share what I see, and to hear from people who have enjoyed those glimpses. So, one more etheree, again  begun with the last line of the one before

Sharing

Come

with me

and walk on

sandy shores and

see what I can see

hear what I am hearing

even if you are with me

only through a camera lens.

Technology bringing you along

makes my own experience much  richer.

Thanks Linda for inspiring me to try this form. I know I’ll be using it more – and sharing it in the classroom, too.

Thanks too to  Molly, who will be hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup. I can’t wait to see what new inspiration I collect from my fellow poets this week.

Poetry Friday: Sealing a Friendship

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It’s Poetry Friday and this week I have been lucky enough that, in a week of lockdown, I  have been able to keep up my beach walks in the one hour of exercise allowed.  My beach is always beautiful, and always different – no two visits are the same.

This week, there were some special surprises. On Tuesday I had an amazing dolphin encounter (you can see some footage in my post below). And then, because I thought that couldn’t be topped, Wednesday brought an even bigger surprise – a seal! 

Yes, there s/he was, just a couple of metres offshore, splashing and fishing and generally being amazing. Again, you can see some footage in the post below.

So, when I sat down to try to draft a new poem for Poetry Friday, it isn’t surprising that at least one of these creatures had to feature – and, this time, it was the seal.

 

Sealing a   Friendship    

I walked

you swam.

You waved

I waved back

the waves waved too.

I splashed for a closer look

you splashed

with joy.

You caught a fish

I caught your moves

on camera.

I strode

back along the beach

lighter for our meeting.

You swam away

heavy with fish.

I like to think

the  smile beneath my mask

mirrored your smile

beneath the water.

(Poem copyright Sally Murphy, 2021)

 

Today’s Poetry Friday roundup will be hosted by Jone. Swim over there to see what goodies my poetic friends have shared today. I’ll pop in there too – after I’ve had my Friday walk where I know there’ll be more wonders. 

Poetry Friday: Tiddely-Pom!

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It’s Poetry Friday, and it seems an age since I last posted. Who could have known, back in January when I promised myself I would post every Friday this year, just what a year 2020 would be – not just for me, but for the whole world.

But today as I was walking on the beach, I found myself, as I often do, reciting a favourite poem – and, of course, knew it was a sign that I should share it.

The poem? The Winnie the Pooh poem, ‘The More It Snows’. Why was I reciting it? It was not snowing (we are, finally, in the early stages of Spring in my part of the world). My toes were not cold. In short, why that poem came to my mind, I don’t know. But there I was on my beach ‘tiddely-pomming’ my way along. What better way to share it than from the voice of the bear himself:

back home, as I thought about the sunshine and the beach and the joy a poem can bring I decided to have a go at writing my own tiddely-pom poem, as an ode to my beach.

Upon the sand
(tiddely-pom)
Life is grand
(tiddely-pom)
Come take my hand
(tiddely-pom)
And frolic.
Cos you’ll soon see
(tiddely-pom)
That by the sea
(tiddely-pom)
It’s hard to be
(tiddely-pom)
Melancholic!

Do you know about the Tiddely-Pom Effect?  It’s also, more boringly known as the Snowball Effect. Basically, the more you focus on something, the bigger it gets . This can be a good thing, or a bad thing – depending of course if you are focussing on a positive or a negative. This year it’s sometimes been hard to find positives, but, today, I’m going to tiddely-pom my way through the day and look for more positives. I hope you’ll join me. and, if you’re in need of a little beach therapy, I hope you’ll enjoy this glimpse of my beach from earlier this week:

Now I’m off to tiddely-Pom my way around the net to see what other poetry goodness I can find. Bridget, from Wee Words for Wee Ones is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup – and pondering all things orange.

Poetry Friday: Angry Ocean

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If you drop here in often you will know that I love my beach walks and, in the past few months, especially, I have been incredibly grateful for being able to walk everyday. On Instagram I have been sharing one minute of my beach every day for two months. Until this week.  This week a series of storms have rendered my beach inaccessible – because  so much sand has been washed away that the stairs  end well above the sand line, and the footings of those stairs are hovering mid air.

Versions of this problem occur right along the coast, but I did manage eventually to find the one point where the beach is accessible, about ten kilometres from here.  You can imagine I was already feeling sad about my own favourite beach being out of bounds for the forseeable future, but when I did get onto this other beach, I was doubly sad when I saw all the rubbish washed up by the storm – plastic of all shapes and sizes, ropes, bottles, fishing tackle, you name it. I stomped around the shore collecting what I could and ferrying it up to the bin, and came home a little cranky about people who litter and pollute our oceans.

But later I paused to wonder if there was any good in this. All I could come up with was that I was giving back. The beach has been my sustenance these past few months, and now I was returning the favour with giving the damaged beach some care.  From that, I was left with the seed of a poem.

Here’s that poem (or its first draft, anyway):

Naughty Corner

All summer

You have frolicked on my shore

Swimming splashing diving

In my nourishing waters.

You’ve felt my sand between your toes

And taken deep breaths of my essence.

In boats

On skis

And boards

You’ve glided across my depths.

 

And I have welcomed you.

 

But I have not been fond

Of your discards:

Wrappers

Straws

Rope

Baskets

Bags

Casually left

Carelessly left

Dropped

And forgotten

By all but me

(It’s hard to ignore the sick rumbling

Deep in your stomach)

Now, at last.

I’ve had enough.

All night I’ve raged and rumbled

and now your waste

Is spewed upon

Those very shores

You’ve wandered.

 

Take it back.

I don’t want it.

 

As punishment

I’ve also reclaimed  some of my sand.

If you are very good

And show you’ve learnt your lesson

I might give it back some time.

Maybe before next summer.

(Copyright Sally Murphy 2020)

 

Funny how writing a poem always makes you feel a little bit better. I do still miss my beach though – so I went looking for another poem I wrote (and recorded for Poetry Friday) a few years ago about the things the sea leaves us:

 

I look forward to more treasures – hopefully I don’t have to wait till next Summer! (Although I do know, especially now, that being unable to walk on the beach is a very first world problem!)

If you want more poetry treasure, Mary Lee is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup at A Year of Reading.

Poetry Friday: Three Poems from the Beach

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It’s summer in my part of the world but most of my Poetry Friday friends are in the northern hemisphere,and so in the midst of winter. Last Friday there was a plethora of posts filled with snow and ice so, when I sat down to prepare my post for today, I thought it might be nice to warm my northern friends with some summer pictures and some poems from the beach.

This first one was written in January last year, and posted on the Poetry Tag blog I share with my friend Rebecca. In Poetry Tag we take turns challenging each other to write a poem incorporating whichever words we choose.Rebecca gave me: lazy, myself, print,  thousand and smell. At the time I was in the midst of a lazy summer, so that first word took me straight to the beach.

Summertime

On the beach   

I’m feeling lazy

Smell of sunscreen

Fills the air.

 

A thousand bushflies

Drive me crazy

As I make  my way

Down there.

 

I plunge myself

In cooling ocean

Feel inertia

Wash away.

 

Flies have vanished

No devotion

To watery fun

They’d rather stay

 

Beachside where they’ll

Leave their print

On backs of sunsoaked

Sandbound teens

 

Who’ve left the water

For a stint

Of games, or food,

Or magazines.

(Copyright Sally Murphy)

This next poem is new. I liked playing with short lines for the Flourish poem I shared last Friday,  so wanted to experiment with it again for this week’s topic. It seemed to fit with the playfulness  of a day at the beach.

At the Beach

 

There’s sand

and shells

and salty

smells

 

There’s water

too

so much

to do

 

Like splish

and splosh

swim

and wash

 

Build castles

moats

frolic

float

 

Throw balls

and play

stay

all day

 

Then say

goodbye

with happy

sigh.

(Copyright Sally Murphy)

This third poem is one I’ve shared before. I like it because it captures one of my favourite things to do at the beach- simply walk, with my toes in the water. I’m hoping to make some more poem videos this year,since it’s been a while since I made one.

I hope, Northern hemisphere friends, that all this beachyness  makes you warm rather than envious. I’m sending you as much virtual warmth as I can muster.

 

Today’s Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by  Jan at Bookseed Studio.

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