poetry

Escape

Sally

To the ocean I would go
Just to see the water flow
Whooshing in and pulling back
Hearing shells go crickle-crack

On a lakeshore I could stand
Digging toes into the sand
Watching mallards swimming by
Ospreys, eagles in the sky

Rivers also beckon me
On their way to far-off sea
Current flowing, rushing on
By an unseen power drawn

Water is my great escape
So I have an oil seascape
When I’m home and cannot go
Painted ocean soothes my woe

This is my response to this week’s W3 prompt. Poet of the Week Marion Horton challenged us to

“…turn our gaze outward—to scapes. Your scape might be a landscape, seascape, cityscape, dreamscape—any view that stirs something in you. It could be drawn from memory or daily life, from a photograph or a painting, from what still stands or what’s long gone. Write in any form that helps you say what you need to say. Somewhere in your piece, be sure to include the word scape.“

The painting used to hang in our sunporch. I had to move it recently because I noticed it was being damaged by the sun and heat in that room.

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Published by Sally

12 thoughts on “Escape”

  1. Sally, your poem feels like a peaceful exhale. The way you move through different waterscapes is so soothing, and I love how the seascape painting becomes a stand-in for you.

    ~David

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  2. Great sensory images in this, Sally. I love the sound your shells make! The rhythm and rhyme pulls us along like waves. I can imagine how therapeutic looking at your painting is. I hope you can still enjoy it in its new home. 💚

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  5. Sally this one is perfection! I’d say you encompassed the prompt and some! I really enjoyed the rhyme and rhythm but the image that filled my mind was extraordinary!!

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  6. Oh Sally this is lovely. I didn’t have time to finish mine this week, but my theme was escape and seascape, water speaks to me and your poem does too 💞

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    1. Thanks, Suzanne! I struggled with this challenge too. Then Friday morning I read a poem by Auden (it had absolutely nothing to do with water). I’m not sure why, but all of a sudden this poem fell into place.

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