Friday, April 20, 2018

"Say the Name, Ocracoke"

Ocracoke Harbor: Silver Lake

Say the Name, Ocracoke

I say the name, Ocracoke,
let it click at the back of my tongue,
glide gently past my lips,
almost puckering if for a kiss
as it leaves me and my mountain top home

winging eastward toward Pamlico Sound
with its batik sky,
dissolving its vowels and syllables
into aqua, turquoise or teal
as it slips into Silver Lake.

Will soon eagerly lean against ferry rail,
say the name, Ocracoke,
salt spray and sun's warm slant
welcoming me as we squeeze
through The Ditch

into beckoning days charmingly simple:
coffee slowly sipped Down Creek,
hammock naps at Springer's Point
and if we are really lucky,
perhaps a pirate's wail adrift a foggy morn
over Teach's Hole.

by Margaret Bednar, April 20, 2018


This is linked with "Imaginary Garden of Real Toads - Wordy Thursday (Fri) with Wild Woman - Say the Names of the Places you Love" a tribute to Canadian poet Al Purdy and perhaps his most famous poem "Say the Names".

and NaPoWriMo 2018.


16 comments:

said...

Beautiful piece. I love this section:

"dissolving its vowels and syllables
into aqua, turquoise or teal
as it slips into Silver Lake"

annell4 said...

I like this so much!!!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Oh, this is wonderful! Every line imbued with love, and i got such a sense of the wonders of the place as i read. Beautifully written, i loved every line.

Other Mary said...

This is just lovely, Margaret. Your fondness for your place shines.

revelations said...

wonderful words and images... I could feel the scenery... great write

Ellecee said...

Enjoyed this so much, I could feel myself there ".salt spray and sun's warm slant
welcoming me "

Sanaa Rizvi said...

This is absolutely stunning, Margaret!💜

tonispencer said...

You made me homesick and longing for the NC coast. Wonderful!

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

It sounds and looks magical.

kaykuala said...

Strange sounding but beautiful place. Great choice Marge!

Hank

Jim said...

You did great on the names, Margaret. I liked the Pirates bit. We had them in Galveston also. John Laffite was our favorite, he even built himself and family a house on a road close to where the docks and piers are now.
..

Kerry O'Connor said...

I always love the place names in your poetry, and the way you brought it altogether in this poem is spectacular. this is truly a labour of love.

brudberg said...

The names make the place so romantic... maybe the fact that we do not know their meaning makes us appreciate it even more... love the traces of the pirates too.

Gillena Cox said...

Your Verse 2 just blowd me away. Lovely poem Margaret

Much🌼love

Kim M. Russell said...

I tried saying the name, Ocracoke, abd it's true that it clicks at the back of the tongue. An amazing name. I love the image of 'Pamlico Sound / with its batik sky' and the colours in
'issolving its vowels and syllables
into aqua, turquoise or teal'.
And I'm with you there, leaning against the ferry rail, feeling that salt spray. There's a wonderful feeling of coming home in the final stanzas, Margaret.

Anonymous said...

Not a place i am familiar with but oh how i wish to visit now after you sang it's song so enchantingly.