Friday, September 26, 2014

The Ship Speaks

It felt good to come back to poetry this week, to pull a project off the back burner and fire it up with a little creative energy.

The Fram under sail, picture courtesy NOAA
The Fram under sail, picture courtesy NOAA  in: "The South Pole," by Roald Amundsen. 

From the Fram's Standpoint

I am not handsome.
My bow is blunt,
my stern the same.
I do not move
with speed or grace,
but I am crafty.
My round hull slips
the grip of frozen waves,
evades the ice
like a cherry seed
when squeezed
between thumb and finger
pops into the air.
I rise above the ice.

They think they have
reason to boast--
Fridtjof Nansen,
Roadl Amundsen--
Norwegian names
laying claim
to farthest, fastest,
but most credit
comes to me.

Without me
they would be
crushed,
waiting for hull
to crack,
for polar water
to swallow them whole
like whaling ships
more comely than me,
but without
my cunning ways.

© 2014 Doraine Bennett

Laura Purdie Salas hosts Poetry Friday today at Writing the World for Kids.
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8 comments:

  1. Author AmokSeptember 26, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    My favorites lines are:

    Without me
    they would be
    crushed,
    waiting for hull
    to crack,
    for polar water
    to swallow them whole

    I'm glad you gave voice to the ice breaker, whose job is so important.

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  2. Robyn Hood BlackSeptember 26, 2014 at 10:56 AM

    Love this voice, Doraine - I hadn't thought of such a ship as "crafty" or "cunning" before, but now I do! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. laurasalasSeptember 26, 2014 at 4:16 PM

    This is WONDERFUL! I esp love "My round hull slips
    the grip of frozen waves." This put me in mind of the poems from the Titanic's point of view in the novel in verse The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic, by Allan Wolf. The Titanic is more sly than the Fram, but I love the strong voice of both!

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  4. Jeannine AtkinsSeptember 26, 2014 at 7:39 PM

    So great to read this. Interesting tension between the voice for me, which seems certain, and follows steady lines, and what the ship says about himself. Can we trust him? I wouldn't have thought cunning or crafty...

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  5. Michelle Heidenrich BarnesSeptember 27, 2014 at 8:05 AM

    "...like whaling ships
    more comely than me,
    but without
    my cunning ways."

    What a wonderful fresh perspective!

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  6. Mary LeeSeptember 27, 2014 at 8:13 AM

    Love the voice!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Linda BSeptember 27, 2014 at 10:06 AM

    I like that you're imagining what that ice breaker would say. I just read a children's book about being in the ice, seems very scary to me. Love "like a cherry seed..."

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  8. Bridget MageeSeptember 28, 2014 at 1:21 PM

    "Cunning ways" indeed! Love the perspective of this poem. Thanks for sharing. =)

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