Sally J. Blackmore asked the poets at her workshop to write an Anaphoric and Ekphrastic poem. This picture, by British contemporary impressionist, Leslie Stones, transported me to a childhood holiday with the family. Amazingly ~ do coincidences really happen? ~ Karin opened the dVerse pub doors and asked us to write about summer!
Searching the Rock Pools Leslie Stones [www.lesliestones.co.uk]
Mañana Seaside Days
Seaside siblings and a crèche of cousins,
Deckchair damsels dashing hopes of dozens,
Countless crabby tickled toes a’paddling,
Rock pools ~ splash! ~ soft sands in sunlight dazzling,
Scabby shins sprawl sandily, stickily,
Toes touch, tease towel tents, torment trickily,
Lulling listening, laughs linger lacily,
Sunshine shimmers on sunhats racily,
Gulls’ wings sigh while seashells gleam and glitter,
Seaside sunny days hot, sparkling sitters,
Slosh, slosh shallows; shush shushing shingle hosts
Mañana seaside days at Cornish coast.
Polly Stretton © 2012
… and here is an audio of the original poem, especially for Claudia and Amy …
journalread 
18/08/2012 at 10:51
Totally transported and sense-rich;
I can feel the sand and taste the saltspray.
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18/08/2012 at 10:52
Ah, thanks Jane, it was fun doing this one, so many opportunities to alliterate! 🙂
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18/08/2012 at 13:43
just excellent!
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18/08/2012 at 13:52
Thank you Louann
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18/08/2012 at 14:17
Almost a bit of a tongue twister with all of those S words. Lovely. I’ve always liked artwork depicting children on beaches. You captured the scene so well.
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18/08/2012 at 14:34
Leslie Stones, the creator of this fab pic, kindly agreed that I could use it. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see your comments Carrie.
Many thanks for your thoughts.
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18/08/2012 at 20:08
Hello Polly,
I’m happy for you to use my artwork, and very happy with the poem you have written, it really captures the feeling of a family day out at the English seaside. Wonderful!
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18/08/2012 at 20:43
Many thanks Les ~ how kind of you to respond on my blog 🙂 Your artwork is stunning. Thank you again.
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18/08/2012 at 21:03
Wow, you have really portrayed those seaside days vividly here. I love the SOUND of this poem very much.
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18/08/2012 at 21:09
Thank you so much Mary ~ I could hear the sound of the sea shore as I wrote this ~ so glad you could too 🙂
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18/08/2012 at 21:08
oh i just love how you use the words polly, this has such a playful and carefree character.. the form works well as well..i’d love to hear that read…think that would double the fun….very cool
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18/08/2012 at 21:18
Ah, there’s a thought now Claudia, maybe I’ll record it just for you 🙂
Thank you for your comments.
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19/08/2012 at 10:27
so very cool.. love the audio..love that you even included the swashing of the waves..very cool
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19/08/2012 at 10:29
Ah-ha! You’ve heard it already! Very impressed! Very cool 🙂
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18/08/2012 at 21:08
nice…this was so much fun…love the rhyme scheme as it played so well with the days at the beach…you def captured the sights and color of the beach and those fun days…smiles…
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18/08/2012 at 21:19
Summer is just the most wonderful time ~ though in truth we haven’t had much of a one this year ~ nevertheless, the days that were fine and sunny were just as captured here.
Thanks for your thoughts Brian.
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18/08/2012 at 21:09
Ah, so pretty and tinkling. And shushing. Great music and images here. k.
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18/08/2012 at 21:20
Thanks k. What a fab prompt. Bet you get lots more contributions from the dVerse poets. Just wonderful.
Glad you liked Mañana Seaside Days 🙂
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18/08/2012 at 21:34
You had me at ‘creche of cousins’! Then I was skipping along with you- just love this! Kathleen
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18/08/2012 at 21:44
Thanks Kathleen ~ glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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18/08/2012 at 21:51
Gosh – someone’s been rather busy with all these new posts! 🙂
And I see here you’ve been feeling alliterative…
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18/08/2012 at 21:52
Just a teeny, tiny, tadpole tidbit … 😉
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18/08/2012 at 21:53
Really love this… I wrote about the beach, too (like yours better, though)!
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18/08/2012 at 23:24
Love your poem about the beach Laurie ~ how similar our seaside artwork even though yours is a photo ~ lovely prompt 🙂
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18/08/2012 at 21:54
This is a lovely write Polly. Reminds me of Brighton Beach, which I’ve tip toed across in bare feet so many times on all the shingle and pebbles there. You poem is so delightful, fun and so well describes everything kids do at the beach. The pic is fabulous and so apt to go with your words.
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18/08/2012 at 21:58
No mistaking a Brit beach in summertime ~ glad this reminded you of happy times Bren 🙂
Wasn’t I lucky to find such a fab image? 😀
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18/08/2012 at 22:06
I didn’t get to make it to the beach this summer… your poem makes me wish I would have tried harder!
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18/08/2012 at 22:07
Still time Dana 🙂
Thanks for your comments.
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18/08/2012 at 22:10
Mañana mañana – Cornwall- I love Cornwall- especially Mevagissey – your poem captures everything about the place- in all it’s sparkly shimmering summeriness! I want to go…in fact … I might just go and get in my car right now….really nice form as well….very well excecuted
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18/08/2012 at 22:12
Aw, thanks Stu ~ I love Mevagissey too, special summers there *sigh*
Good to see your thoughts ~ do tell if you get there!
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19/08/2012 at 01:26
Wow, what a delicious snack for my mouth. My tongue is quite happy having read this aloud. 🙂
This is my favorite line: “Toes touch, tease towel tents, torment trickily”
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19/08/2012 at 06:38
Ah-ha! You like those toes 🙂
Many thanks for your thoughts.
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19/08/2012 at 06:47
Flip, I read all poems aloud, too. It’s half the fun and half the reward! Amy
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19/08/2012 at 02:04
This is lovely, Polly. I love the “hot sunny seaside days”, and all of the sparkle and glitter, and especially the laughter. What a dreamy piece. 🙂
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19/08/2012 at 06:41
I love hot sunny seaside days too, there have not been so many of them in UK this year but some … just as a reminder for us perhaps lest we forget 🙂
Beaches always make me think of laughter ~ kids giggling especially ~ and of course the glittering shimmering sands ~ darn it, I want to be there now! 😉
Thanks for visiting and your comments, Archna.
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19/08/2012 at 06:08
oh wow!! love all the sandy glitter…and the sunny waves. love the rhyming. now i want to visit the sea 🙂
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19/08/2012 at 06:46
Gosh, I’ve just written ‘I want to be there now’ … it’s the thought of that shimmering sand just waiting for us Mohana!
Lovely to see your thoughts ~ thanks for visiting 🙂
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19/08/2012 at 06:46
Polly, this took me back to our days in Puerto Rico, Riley running naked as a jaybird on this sand (she was a toddler, and all the little ones do it there). Your alliteration and internal rhymes made this roll off my tongue. I read it aloud twice. I hope you will consider reading your poetry for http://www.virtualpoetryreading.com, Buddah Moskowitz’s project. You can even “phone it in,” literally!
Now nice that you were able to combine the two prompts. This poem positively glowed with summer. Peace, Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/08/19/sunburn-for-dverse/
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19/08/2012 at 06:55
Amy, so pleased to see your comments ~ always good to be reminded of special times 🙂
Thanks for the link, a new one to me, I shall go and see what’s what with it in a mo!
Many thanks for your thoughts re alliteration / internal rhyme ~ was a tad concerned at one stage that there might be too much alliteration and thus the poem might be rendered less credible but some good comments so trust OK 🙂 x
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19/08/2012 at 10:26
Amy, I’ve added an audio, just for you and Claudia 🙂
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19/08/2012 at 10:41
Nice play with image and words using rhyme and alliteration
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19/08/2012 at 10:42
Thanks John 🙂
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19/08/2012 at 20:50
Love the audio! You read beautifully, and the sound of the water/sea at the end has given me an insane craving for the beach (insane because there is no way I can get there in the foreseeable future). Lovely language; I think the alliteration & rhyme work very well. It’s a playful poem about a playful time. Thank you.
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19/08/2012 at 20:57
Thank you ds, how very kind of you. Glad you enjoyed Mañana Seaside Days ~ it was wonderful to write, if time-consuming (!)
Shame you can’t get down to the beach for a while ~ but you can always listen again 😀
Lovely to see you visiting ~ do come back sometime.
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20/08/2012 at 10:48
This is lovely Polly – I liked the audio visual too…
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20/08/2012 at 10:50
Thanks Wendy ~ I’m always a bit iffy about audio / visuals but had been asked by two blogging friends to do one, so …
Many thanks for your comments ~ truly appreciated 🙂
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20/08/2012 at 10:53
you read so well – you should do more audio…
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20/08/2012 at 10:57
Thanks Wendy, nice of you to say so, I try to keep a balance as I read at performance poetry aka open mic sessions so I do get the poems ‘out there’ as it were. Just don’t want to overdo the audio / visual on the blog as it could get a bit … hmmm … searching for the right word … hmmmm … that’s all 🙂
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20/08/2012 at 10:59
I see what you mean…
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