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| The Outer Banks |
The Outer Banks
Of shifting sands, waves, currents,
occasional nor'easter;
of coastal plains slanting in homage
toward haven of estuaries and sounds;
all a crescentic barrier's lot
to woo sun and moon's spring tide,
to lean against low sloping salt marsh,
embrace sea level's rise.
---
The science of it all
my son does not know,
points out decaying seabird
covered with sand;
questions how close
man has built.
Frowns.
Asks if hurricanes still exist.
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Unprompted looks skyward,
raises arms; wind swirls his hair,
flaps his jacket, carries his laugh
as sea gull hovers.
Over-wash and storm-surges;
things to ponder tomorrow.
by Margaret Bednar, April 5, 2016
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| The Outer Bank |
Spring Tide - is has nothing to do with the season of spring. It occurs when the moon is new or full and the sun, moon, and earth are aligned. The collective gravitational pull on the water is strengthened. A Perigean spring tide occurs three times or four times a year - when the moon's perigee (its closest point to Earth) coincides with a spring tide. This combination when it occurs can have disastrous results. In some countries it is known as a "king tide".
I found this interesting - if anyone adores a barrier island, this may be of interest.
The Outer Banks of North Carolina (U.S. Dept. of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey) First Printing 1986
This is linked (late) with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - April Poetry Month Day 4 - Nature" and "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - The Tuesday Platform".
10 comments:
This is a wonderful write. I can see your son looking skyward, wind ruffling his hair....imprint that image on your mind and heart for he will all too soon be a great big kid!!!!!!
Nice, Margaret. I liked the praise of nature maintaining her grip on the island. I may have learned. You make stre that the kid here learns everything right. Seems his knowledge and interest are good depending on his age. You and his observations will help him put it together.
I hadn't heard of the Spring Tide before. Maybe our bIg island, Galveston, is too far south for the three to have alignment. When hurricane winds come the tides can rise twenty feet, keeping the bayous from emptying, backing water fifty miles or so. We had thirty-three feet of water in our home (we've since moved) and our house was a good ten feet above the street. Three cars and a motorcycle were totaled because the water in the driveway was five feet deep.
We lived 34 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.
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Death in the midst of beauty does not destroy the beauty.
I enjoyed seeing this world through your eyes.
Sweet poem, sweet boy. Beautiful pics, beautiful child. Thanks, Margaret. k.
Oh... you make me long for warm sand and bare feet... not yet there but my toes kept curling as i read.
Really nice, Margaret... and I do really dig those photos from your trip to the Outer Banks. For my poem today I almost used "estuary" but decided on "confluence" instead... weird. Hope you are well and happy.
Such a magnificent write :D
I never tire of this photo, and what a rare thing it is to read the mother's version of the day spent with the child.
Wonderful (and very informative poem). I really love when you write about doing things with your children, for something magical happens to your tone, the words speak of love, of wonder, of heartfelt peace...
Refreshing as a sea breeze and firmly ground in shore.
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