Streets, Details and Dancin', Spain

Where do we find words? And when do words make their way into poems?

Sometimes we find words in ordinary details on a street, in a museum, at a cave where dancers tap out flamenco. We note the cherry red festival dress, zebra butterfly, black heels, casual curve of a child's body on marble floors, even the cut of an ancient toilet now exposed to sky and sun.

Or we pluck word-phrases from the air, if we are quick and have remembered to bring along our sly net.

Here's a poem I found at the Granada Museum of Science. It was calling through these phrases, uttered by various people in our party as we walked through the Antarctica exhibit and some among us played a video game. It is dedicated to the couple who helped us with translation for the week and recalls also a conversation I had with the husband about apologies.

Here are the words I stole and stuffed into my poem:

'I think it takes 5 men and a whole day to build an igloo.'
'I hit a penguin!'
'It said I was a careless driver.'
'I was picking up meteorites along the way.'


'Apology'
(for Maria and Jarit)

I swear I was on my way
to see you, there in your
igloo it took five men and a
whole day to build. You were

cooking polar bear meat, melting
months-old snow to pour into
my tin cup. The day was white on
white, and I was swerving snow

dunes on a black and yellow
skidoo, picking up meteorites
along the way (where they
came from I can't say).

I had a pound of precious rice
in my pocket— a rare treat in an
Antarctica kitchen— and a thousand
kisses for you on my lips. But then

it happened. Careless driver that
I am, I hit a penguin and the screen
flashed red, 'Game over.' But I
swear I was on my way.

















Poetry prompt: try collecting phrases from the conversations around you or from street signs, cereal boxes, book covers, wherever. Choose one or two to pop into a poem. Let me know when you post and leave your link in my comment box by Thursday June 11, for definite links and possible feature at High Calling Blogs.

POETRY FRIDAY:
Stacy’s series of poems
Jennifer’s Words Have Wings
Yvette’s One
nAncY’s Words Everywhere and poem from the wordpuddle
Marcus’s The Problem with Grace
Brian’s I am
Sunrise Sister’s, poem in the comment section
Liz’s Finished
Monica’s Past Mount Carmel Nosedive
Ann’s What’s the Dream?
A Simple Country Girl’s Perched There
Diane’s Hold Out Until the Honeymoon
LL's Apology
Sara's Stories
Claire's Giddy and Song of Stifle
Erica's RAP: Part Deux, Blue Sky, and Wordpool
Laura's A New Beginning
High Calling Blogs' Puddles, Fizz and Bubbles
Deb's Collect

Granada photos by L.L. Barkat.