tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post2893263192339420003..comments2023-12-16T23:54:45.620+13:00Comments on . . . All Finite Things Reveal Infinitude . . . : Tuesday Poem - Elegy for the giant tortoisesClaire Beynonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-22955704279436757962010-06-16T05:16:55.550+12:002010-06-16T05:16:55.550+12:00Thank you for transcribing Maxine Kumin's poem...Thank you for transcribing Maxine Kumin's poem, Rebecca. <br /><br />Such piercing lines, esp. these<br /><br />'. . . Weighed down by its dense bones<br />the manatee swims so slowly<br />that algae have time to<br />colonize on its spine.<br /><br />and <br /><br />. . . Many have bled with bright scars<br />they come to be known by . . . '<br /><br />I wonder what sound manatees make --- whether it's anything like that of whales or dolphins? I imagine it to be a kind of keening. <br /><br />Four years ago, I adopted a manatee named Lily for my young niece in the UK. She, Tess, thinks of manatees as 'living, dreaming rocks.' <br /><br />Thank you again for this - love the title of the collection - 'Nurture.'Claire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-42958606467362697742010-06-15T14:16:04.708+12:002010-06-15T14:16:04.708+12:00Maxine Kumin
Thoughts on Saving the Manatee
Wei...Maxine Kumin<br /><br /><br />Thoughts on Saving the Manatee<br /><br />Weighed down by is dense bones<br />the manatee swims so slowly<br />that algae have time to<br />colonize on its spine.<br />I know a woman who rode<br />one down the river gently<br />scraping with a clamshell<br />letting drift free a bushel<br />basket of diatoms and kelp.<br /><br />At one time you could order<br />manatee steak in any <br />restaurant in Florida.<br />It was said to taste like veal.<br />My friend reported that hers<br />bubbled and squealed its pleasure<br />beneath her making it well<br />worth risking a five-hundred-<br />dollar fine for molesting<br />this cow-size endangered aquatic<br />mammal whose name derives from<br />the Carib word for breast.<br /><br />And from the overlook <br />at Blue Spring,<br />pendulous<br />disembodied breasts<br />are what I see dappling<br />the play of sunlight on<br />the lagoon. The swim up here<br />from the St. Johns River<br />—mostly cows and their calves—<br />to disport in the temperate water<br /><br />and stay to choke on <br />our discards. They swallow<br />snarls of fishing line or<br />the plastic ribbons that tie<br />beer cans together.<br />Along with acorns sucked<br />from the river bottom<br />they also ingest large numbers<br />of metal pop tops that razor<br />their insides. Grazing<br />on water hyacinths, they’re<br />sideswiped by boat propellers.<br />Many have bled with bright scars<br />they come to be known by<br />and yet, many deaths<br />are mysterious, in not willful.<br />Worldwide less than five<br />thousand manatees remain.<br /><br />For a small sum you can adopt one<br />through the Audubons.<br />Already named Boomer or Jojo<br />tricked out with a radio collar<br />it will ascend tranquilized<br />to be weighted and measured on schedule<br />but experts agree that no matter<br />how tenderly tamed by philanthropy<br />survival is chancy.<br /><br />Consider my plan.<br />It’s quick and humane:<br />Let’s revert to the Catch of the Day<br />and serve up the last few as steak marinara.<br />Let’s stop pretending we need them<br />more than they need us.<br /><br /><br /><br />From <i>Nurture</i>Radish Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06534752971317927559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-69853708195687338462010-06-15T01:05:46.945+12:002010-06-15T01:05:46.945+12:00Hi Kay & Mary - Margaret Atwood is remarkable,...Hi Kay & Mary - Margaret Atwood is remarkable, isn't she? And very prescient indeed - not just in this poem, but others. Such notions make us think, don't they. . .<br /><br />Heavens, it's already Tuesday morning and I'm only just starting to read last week's poems... one day, life has to - will - slow down!<br /><br />L, CClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-8024528851856099422010-06-15T01:02:17.099+12:002010-06-15T01:02:17.099+12:00Let's hope not, dear Mim. Let's hope not. ...Let's hope not, dear Mim. Let's hope not. <br /><br />I often find myself turning thoughts towards you and your treasured South Beach. I do hope that stretch of coast is not an affected area?Claire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-79080295411568315592010-06-15T01:00:04.936+12:002010-06-15T01:00:04.936+12:00Dear Rebecca
Margaret Atwood's title breaks ...Dear Rebecca <br /><br />Margaret Atwood's title breaks my heart, too. Everything about the Gulf does. <br /><br />I don't know Maxine Kumin's manatee poem, no - I'd love to read it if you have it near at hand, thanks. (I've tried Google, but only get as far as titles... one or two poems, but not that one. She's inspiring, isn't she.) <br /><br />I checked out your Francesca Woodman photograph - wow. And oh! Think of all the questions that giant tortoise could/would ask, the mysteries it would disclose. If only we understood 'tortoise.' Mind you, we don't have to speak - all that's required of us is that we listen? <br /><br />I hope your tender foot is on the mend. Ouch. That sounded sore but kind of daring, too. It's the sort of thing that might just as easily happen to yours truly over here!<br /><br />Love<br />ClaireClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-41341650751698869212010-06-14T02:53:14.440+12:002010-06-14T02:53:14.440+12:00I can't get past the title of this poem it dev...I can't get past the title of this poem it devastates me. Did you ever read the Maxine Kumin poem where she rides the manatee and scrapes barnacles off the manatee's skin with a clam shell? I will try to find it for you today. Please check out the Francesca Woodman photo on my blog today. You may already know it but it made me think of you and this poem this morning.<br />love,<br />RebeccaRadish Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06534752971317927559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-41575998050040653622010-06-08T20:17:57.268+12:002010-06-08T20:17:57.268+12:00It must've been my server playing up, because ...It must've been my server playing up, because the link works fine now! Sorry ...Kay Cookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01791873464409271216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-52271728105226284692010-06-08T19:51:28.037+12:002010-06-08T19:51:28.037+12:00A very prescient poem indeed and marvelously wrou...A very prescient poem indeed and marvelously wrought - what a wordsmith she is. <br /><br />BTW Claire I couldn't reach your site from the Tuesday Poem site ... had to go via my own sidebar link ... maybe there's something wrong with that TP link? (Or it could be my connection playing up ... ) Thought I'd let you know anyway in case. :)Kay Cookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01791873464409271216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-75435218360558708052010-06-08T12:48:32.670+12:002010-06-08T12:48:32.670+12:00Please, not a "last day," not yet.Please, not a "last day," not yet.Mimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13039776441665375475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-43804738756097622652010-06-08T12:13:40.770+12:002010-06-08T12:13:40.770+12:00Wow.Wow.Mary McCallumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07482261103185786111noreply@blogger.com