Across the street from us is the Maritime Museum. Thanks to its harbour master, for the first time in the twenty years we’ve lived here the boats moored at its dock have been lit up for the holidays. Sparkling nightly, these lights and the Christmas trees across English Bay inspired Magellan’s photos and my poem.
leaving the year
may the lodestars of light
that are glowing, even now,
beacon you out
beyond the dark, and may you
sail through from now to then
Navigation
My poem was modelled after “blessing the boats” by Lucille Clifton from her book Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. Copyright©2000 Lucille Clifton and found at The Poetry Foundation.
blessing the boats
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
15 Responses
Thank you for the inspiration in both the poem and the pictures. They really touched me.
With you being a photographer whose images have been featured in many publications, I’d encourage you to create a website to share more of your work.
And may you both sail through 2019 with the wind at your back always into safe harbours
Thank you both
Similar to my reply to Karol, you should consider a website to display your beautiful paintings.
A very Happy New Year to you and thanks for my Sunday morning read every week. Makes me feel like we are still neighbours…
Oh, how we wish you could have been neighbours for life! A toast to memories of 511 and 515 Crescent Blvd.
A very happy New year to you both and may the golf balls you hit go straight and true
Thanks to the scientists at TaylorMade, most of my shots now land close to the fairway I’m playing!
A happy adventurous 2019 to you both. Pictures and poetry are beautiful. Thank you for sharing your talents.
TY. I would like to have worked in the Scottish word pirr, “a light breath of wind that ruffles the surface of the water”…next year
A happy adventurous 2019 to you both. Pictures and poetry are beautiful. Thank you for sharing your talents.
Beautiful pictures and poetry. Happy New Year to you both.
And to you! Here’s another gem that flew into my inbox this morning, a poem from 1959 that still rings true: https://www.theparisreview.org/poetry/4745/the-new-years-burden-catherine-davis
Love it, the poem, the photos, the sentiment. Happy New Year to you as well, sail into a new year full of possibilities, and hope. Heather
Here’s a new one for you that we received this morning—”Bon any nou 2019 as they say in Catalan.”