Two Gulfs

I'm sure I'm not the first to compare our current disasters in the Gulf of Mexico and the Persian Gulf.  Both are dominated by oil, and the average American has been little affected by either.

Certainly, there are many families with loved ones serving in the Middle East.  Somehow, they withstand heat, tedium, sandstorms, gunfire, bombs and insurgents.  Survival is their common denominator.   But most Americans have no direct connection to service members;  instead, we pledge our support by pasting yellow ribbon stickers on our minivan bumpers, visible mainly to the car behind us in the Starbucks drive-thru lane.

Likewise, Gulf Coasters have had their livelihoods destroyed, just as suddenly and irrevocably as a soldier maimed by an IED.   We ache for them, and for the oil drenched wildlife we see on TV.  But it's easy for us to bury our distress when the only immediate consequence is a minor increase in the prices of fish and gas.

I've no doubt that ripples from both events will reach the rest of us in years to come.  What forms they'll take, I can't say, but I bet we'll contend with repercussions that finally, cause us to look back on our inaction now and think "If only we had . . . "


Wingspan

Brown pelicans
shrouded in sheeted oil
squat helplessly, their feathers
gummed together,
straight jacketed by pasted wings.
Each sea dive yields
only a blackened beak-pouch
of slicked fish
quieted by oil clogged gills.
They blink through muck
trusting that somehow,
they'll spread their wings again.
I murmur my regret
as I click my seat belt
and gun the engine, bound
on some urgent errand
for lawn chairs
and summer shoes.

         ----Linda Collins

Introduction

Since renewing my interest in poetry a few years ago, I've been dismayed (but not surprised) by most of my friends' reactions, which nearly all run along the lines of  “oh, poetry, I never did understand that stuff”  and  “how can it be a poem if it doesn't rhyme?”   And then there is the unspoken reaction, telegraphed  in the widened eyes and the tight smiles:  She writes poetry?! She must be a little off!   For whatever reason, many people view poetry as being completely divorced from everyday life, existing on a separate time-space continuum visited only by the eccentric or the stoned.   I find myself forever printing poems for friends in an effort to demonstrate that poetry serves to amplify, not obscure, our everyday experiences.

And then, out of the blue, a fellow poet loaned me a collection of newspaper columns written by Robert Hass.  Written when he was PLOTUS, Hass connected poems and poets to happenings in the news.   His essays are delightful and insightful, and offer readers a sturdy footbridge over the turbulent waves of poetic mystery swirling below (groan -  I guess I am a little off!). 

Having recently been on the lookout for a blogging topic, I've decided to try my hand at continuing Robert Hass's example.   I am under no illusion that my commentary will measure up to his, but I do hope to lessen the reluctance my readers might feel at reading the occasional poem.  I've got only a few years of poetry experience compared with Hass's many, so please, readers, be patient while I find my footing with this project.

My plan is to select poems that in some way relate to current issues, and briefly explain the connections I see.  These will mainly be other people's poems; however, you may see one from me occasionally (as with my inaugural posting). 

PLOTUS=Poet Laureate of the United States