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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Your Sunday Poem

Coalesce Bookstore in Morro Bay has published a book of poetry by four local poets.  Hooray for them.  Publishing a book in this day and age is a heroic act and publishing a book of poems is particularly brave.  So, support your local poets, support Coalesce in their efforts and head on down there to buy a copy of "Where our palms rest . . ." Poems by Beverly Boyd, Carol Alma McPhee, Joann Rusch, and Bonnie Young. Christmas is coming and this book would make a lovely present to someone you know who loves poetry and loves discovering new poets.

This one is by is by Beverly Boyd.

Lost

He spent days figuring out how to work
a hand-held GPS, found for a dollar
at a yard sale, no instructions included.

Such a deal, he must have thought, polishing
its hazy window, inserting new batteries.
He switched it on but couldn't find his own

location.  He handed it to a friend who used
another brand.  No help there.  Online,
he discovered a fifty-page manual.

Hours later, slipping into bed, he slept,
sound in the knowledge he had found his bearings.
At breakfast he proudly showed me where we were,

our latitude and longitude, how many
feet we sat with cereal and coffee above
the sea, barely visible through swirling fog,

and where four satellites hovered to mark
our spot -- all that anyone might need
to avoid that sinking feeling

or ancient thrill of being lost.

7 comments:

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

I'm glad people still write this stuff!

More need to actually enjoy the feeling of lost—which for many, alas, occurs while reading a poem....

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

BTW, Sue McGinty did a great reading of her new book at Coalesce yesterday, really cool!

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

BTW - Billy Collins read from his new book, "Aimless Love" on PBS tonight. A wry poem that was pretty funny.

Churadogs said...

will have to check to see if he's got any new collections out.

Anonymouse: I'm dumping your ridiculous pointless comments. you.

Anonymous said...
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Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Irrelevant writer? Why you just described your anonymous self Anon 4:10! You can't even manage to write yourself a name.

Alon Perlman said...

Thanks,
this one reminded me of the Billy Poem;
http://calhounscannon.blogspot.com/2013/01/your-sunday-poem_27.html

but a little closer to home, not quite the casual sense of scale.