Friday, November 9, 2012

Poetry Friday: Lodestone




Death came, half a world from here,
and word of it slid
down the meridian
to find me where I hid,
far from the Great Bear and the Little Bear
that lord the northern nights.
I feel their icy shadows
rake the air,
the claws we carry at our throats,
near our hearts,
the axis of a globe
without escapable parts,
no corners: we are never out of reach.
I turn my back,
they seem to disappear,
behind the earth,
as stars behind the sun:
oh but the dangerous Bears
are always near.
They come for us one by one.

                          -- Robin Schectman

I found this terrific work in progress called Ursa  Major and Ursa Minor by Moira Court, a British-but-living-in-Australia artist and children's book illustrator. Check out her terrific blog: Badger Harry Presents

When you're done doing that, head on over to Think Kid, Think! where Ed DeCaria is hosting Poetry Friday

7 comments:

Diane Mayr said...

no corners: we are never out of reach.

That's a great line, don't you think?

I'm Jet . . . said...

I do indeed.

Author Amok said...

I love the powerful conclusion of this poem. This summer, we rode on a rollercoaster called "Great Bear" at Hershey Park. This poem has danger.

Ruth said...

What wonderful dangerous bears, in the poem and the illustration!

Mary Lee said...

A stellar (ha!) choice for PF this week!

I'm Jet . . . said...

Thanks for stopping by!

laurasalas said...

I feel their icy shadows
rake the air,
the claws we carry at our throats,

Ooh, love that! I just wrote about the legend of the Great Bear recently for an assessment project. This gave me such chills!