Strange Beauty

Strange Beauty

There are pelicans on the far shore,
pelicans on the near shore,
pelicans in the sky.

Have you ever seen grace
more abundant? Grace
more awkward?

Have you ever gawked
until you felt yourself
fly?

The Prompt

I’m currently vacationing with my mom, kids, siblings, siblings-in-law, niblings, and so many pelicans on a lake just a few miles from the Continental Divide. Family + Mountains + Water might be my favorite combo of ingredients in the whole wide world. Throw in some wildlife and a few minutes to write a poem, and I’m in heaven. In other words, I’m in heaven—a fleeting but lovely place. With all the brimstone and pitch forks in this world, I hope you’re getting moments in your own personal heaven, too.

The one downside to heaven . . . I’ve been interrupted by at least five different family members in the few minutes that I’ve been working on this post. So I guess I’d better cut to the chase! If you would like a prompt to play with today, then I offer you a word from my poem: “awkward.” Or if you prefer, “awkwardness.”

What do these words conjure for you? I mean, besides the long beaks and throat pouches of pelicans. Memories from middle school? Memories from the last social gathering you attended? Scenes from Napoleon Dynamite? Or does your mind go somewhere else altogether?

When do you feel most awkward? Most at ease? How does that contrast manifest in your body?

Let all of this swirl, and see what poem wants to spin loose. If you’d like to share, then I’d love to read what you come up with! Feel free to share in the comments thread.

Before I sign off (sorry if this is rushed to the point of awkwardness!), I wanted to let you all know that LeeAnn Pickrell and I are hosting our third open mic for Substack poets. On Saturday, August 16 at 12:00 PDT/3:00 EDT, we’ll be treated to readings from Shondra Bowie, Thomas Rist, Kim Nelson, and Weston Parker, after which we will open the mic to anyone who would like to share a poem of their own. If you have been wanting to try an open mic but haven’t yet worked up the courage or found the time, we would love to get to be the first people to cheer for your poems. If you would like to attend, please send me a DM or reply to this email, and I’ll send you the Zoom registration link. Let’s make magic together!