“At Water’s Edge” – The Mag 116
At Water’s Edge
My name is green, I
edge the scene,
each leaf and stalk–I
am the talk
of vines and tips,
loose lips sink
ships, but me, I grip
their hulls with slip–
(the plankton of my disposition
also including decomposition.)
That said, my stock in trade
is spade, uproot of stone–I will
be grown–though I bend too, oh yes, I do,
like a river paying tributary
or a sigh upon a moonlit prairie
(for I’m still green
in site unseen–
when darkness reigns,
or it fails to rain–)
So irrepressible am I
that even when river swallows sky
and blue shines out in sparkling twinkle,
you’ll find my shade in every crinkle
of wave and tide,
the river wide,
the river’s narrows too.
****************************************
The above is a poem and iPad painting based on Tess Kincaid’s prompt for The Mag 116, a beautiful photograph of the River Irwell by R.A.D. Stainforth, who besides being a photographer has an incredibly great voice and reads Tess’s poems on her blog, Willow Manor.
Speaking of rivers – check out my children’s counting book 1 Mississippi -for lovers of rivers, light and pachyderms. Or, if you in the mood for something older, check out Going on Somewhere, poetry, and Nose Dive, escapist fluff.
Explore posts in the same categories: iPad art, poetry, UncategorizedTags: "At Water's Edge" poem, green crinkle twinkle, green river poem, manicddaily, plankton of my disposition, river paying tributary, The Mag 116
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
ManicDDaily 
May 6, 2012 at 6:10 pm
So clever and creative! Makes me see an entirely different river than the original….and an entirely different story……
May 6, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Thanks, Mimi.
May 6, 2012 at 6:32 pm
i love how you made this a statement about the negative space, and not about the river!! Kudos to you for that!!
the river
May 6, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Thanks so much, Ami.
May 6, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Bat-Ami = daughter of my nation in hebrew.
everyone calls me Tammy 🙂
May 6, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Yes, I just realized. I am so sorry! This is what happens when I do things from memory. It is a lovely name. K.
May 6, 2012 at 6:34 pm
hah there is some brilliant word play in this and quick rhyme that is really enjoyable…the disposition and decomp line…and I
am the talk
of vines and tips,
loose lips sink
ships, but me, I grip
their hulls with slip
smiles…i like this much k…
May 6, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Thanks, Brian. Yes, I had fun with it. K.
May 6, 2012 at 6:38 pm
I simply enjoyed reading this, it took me away for a bit. well done.
http://leah-jamielynn.typepad.com/blog/
May 6, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Thanks, Leah.
May 6, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Beautiful flow to this, k. Effortless to read and rippling like sun on water. Esp liked the plankton and tributary parts–very cleverly done, and not at all forced feeling. I’m all about the green, anyway.
May 6, 2012 at 8:45 pm
Thanks so much, Joy. k.
May 7, 2012 at 12:40 am
Such an amazing poem, such a delightful flow…and I truly like what you did with the photo! That really rocks!
May 7, 2012 at 3:18 am
Commendations for both poem and painting! I’m a sucker for rivers, anyway, but I didn’t need to be to enjoy these.
May 7, 2012 at 3:33 am
I love the poem and the painting. One of my favorites this week.
=)
May 7, 2012 at 7:59 am
gorgeous genius!!! such a smashing encapsulating read… thank you for sharing with us all.. j
May 7, 2012 at 8:25 am
Thanks so much, Jeannine. K.
May 7, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Oh so charming…a wonderful treat…had to read it out loud of course…
May 7, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Thanks, Tess.
May 7, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Green is good, your poem is super!
May 8, 2012 at 1:08 am
A mighty wide and powerful river your spirit is , Manic, wish i had your mastery of layers, too . Excellent painting.
May 8, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Hi Kutamun! By layers, I’m assuming that you mean in the painting app. I use “Brushes” which I really like. I find it much easier to manipulate than Sketchbook Pro or some of the others. I also bought a little stylus (they are about 10 dollars), and I find that much easier than using a finger. I do it all on the iPad – iPhone has the same thing and I used to use it, but it is hard to work in the smaller scale.
The layers are great. It takes a while to get used to how they work, but there are six of them in the iPad app, and tons of ways to merge, enlarge, copy, etc. I find Brushes is definitely the easiest to understand. It is also only a few dollars to buy! k.
May 8, 2012 at 2:19 am
So irrepressible am I
that even when river swallows sky
and blue shines out in sparkling twinkle,
you’ll find my shade in every crinkle
I think that could be said of a few bloggers, too! LOL. Loved both pic and poem. 🙂
May 8, 2012 at 8:25 am
A swift flow, staccato styled K! Clever use of word play. Enjoyed this,Ma’am!
Hank
May 8, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Beautifully done; very enjoyable…
May 8, 2012 at 3:34 pm
I like the painting and the flow of the words …
May 8, 2012 at 4:07 pm
Thanks so much! It was a lovely photograph and I’m sorry to have changed it in a way, but I really like posting my own versions of things, and it gives me an excuse to do visual art of sorts. You have a wonderful voice. k.
May 10, 2012 at 10:51 am
Surreal … image, beautiful .. lush words of your poem.