First paint wind,
the kind that creates the shimmering waves.
Add the glow of the sleeping sun.
Next, place your canvas
in the sand
in a tide pool
or where the clams build the shells.
Paint without thinking
or moving and wait
for the sun’s expression to turn
soft and light.
Then draw the shadowy ships
whispering their long-gone knowledge
to the fish in the sea,
the sand,
the men gathering crabs.
When the seagull caw-caws,
take a squid and scare it.
The ink will burst.
With this, sign your name
in the ocean,
hoping it won’t go down
to the sunken ship taking souls.
by Katie, 5th grade
Click the media player above to listen to the poem read on Sunny 99.1, KPFT 90.1, and KTRU 96.1 Mackenzie, WITS Youth Advisory Council Student. The background music is “Sailor’s Lament” by Jason Shaw, Freemusicarchive.org. Produced by Susan Phillips.
Poem a Day is made possible in part by H-E-B, Copy.com, The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Texas Commission on the Arts, KPFT 90.1, Sunny 99.1, and KTRU 96