Thursday, August 21, 2014

POETRY FRIDAY



 

Host Irene at Live Your Poem challenges us with a theme today - MISSING. Of course, I chose my contribution before knowing this, but certainly the work of both poet Philip Booth and artist Andrew Wyeth are missed! Does this count?

After spending a sparkling day on the Maine coast yesterday, I found "A Choice of Horizons" by Maine poet, Philip Booth in Maine Lines, edited by Richard Aldridge, Lippincott, 1970. 

My day was awash in Booth’s “naked ridgepoles, salt-bleached shakes, and “the sea, the sea, the sea,” a choice of horizons, indeed! The day ended with a visit to the Wyeth exhibits at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. It’s a joy to read this poem after dwelling awhile with Andrew Wyeth’s paintings. I can “see” paintings like “Christina’s World” and others through Booth’s words and marvel at how he makes us look at that one boy out-pedaling the wind on his bike "to shelter  behind some town the man he must be."

Booth, a New Hampshire native, studied with Robert Frost at Dartmouth and spent his childhood on the coast of Maine. “A Choice of Horizons” was first published in 1964 just when “Christina’s World” brought the world’s attention to Andrew Wyeth.

This poem is MISSING online. Quoting a section wouldn’t capture its beauty. Here’s a jpg from my copy of Maine Lines.

"A Choice of Horizons" by Philip Booth   


Click on over to the Roundup at Live Your Poem to see if anything else is Missing or maybe FOUND!





14 comments:

  1. "Edited/Compiled by Richard Aldridge" - He was my English teacher in high school. I was blessed more than I realized at the time!

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    1. Wow, Donna! I'm glad you could make that connection. Have you read any of his poems? I read that he also wrote a children's fable with his wife, Josephine Haskell Aldridge. It often does take years for us to realize that our teachers had interests beyond the classroom. Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. What a beautiful poem. Thanks for introducing it to me. I love all of the rich language, especially the description of the fisherman's woman.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Laura. I love that section, too. To me, it's a description of Christina in Christina's World.

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  3. What a magical day! Thanks for sharing it, and the poem with us.

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    1. Hi, Violet! Thanks for stopping by and for those wonderful tankas.

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  4. Great connection! And the sea, the sea, the sea... husband and I visited Maine a few years ago and loved it SO MUCH. Thank you for this reminder!

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    1. In the summer, we live inland on a lake, which is beautiful, but I go to the sea whenever I can. Come back!

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  5. This poem made me miss the sea even more. Thank you for sharing this. :)

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  6. I'm due for a vacation in late September. I may head to Maine. It would be nice to find some haiku on the rocks and in the salt marshes.

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    1. barnacles, rock weed,
      waiting, calling to Diane -
      latent sea haiku

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  7. I must visit Maine...some day. Very different than the desert experience. Thanks so much for sharing. = )

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    1. Yes, Come! And I have yet to visit the desert. Thanks for stopping by today, Bridget.

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Comments welcome.