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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Little Girl Blue

illustration by Robert Wagt


Every week since five years old
she brings a bunch of books
back home from the library
to a house where no one cooks.

She dives inside the blankets
and she covers up her head,
and is transported far away
on the boat that is her bed.

She lives with My Friend Flicka,
and she's Flicka's best friend Ken,
and when she comes to the last page,
she starts at one again.

Upon her bed-ship she sets sail
with animals and friends.
She lives within the pages
of a book that never ends.

for Susan's Mid Week Motif : childrens' books. Write a poem for a child. As I have clocked 63 years of bringing home weekly batches of books from whatever library is handy, this is what popped forth! For so many years, especially as a child,  I used books as an escape. I think they may have saved my life, by charting a path out of childhood.

19 comments:

  1. Nice, Sherry. Somehow your poem reminds me a bit of the Robert Louis Stevenson poem "Land of Counterpane" where a boy who is sick plays with his toy soldiers underneath the blanket. I know you are talking of books, but that is the first thing that came to my mind. I too went to the library from the time I was young. My mother went pretty much weekly (for herself) and I was happy to accompany her. Often we both sat around reading. She was a wonderful role model.

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  2. I was going to mention the same poem as Mary! I also made a private world under the covers of my bunk bed, which was on the top. I love how your little girl starts over so the book never ends. Do you remember "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks?" So many memories rise up from reading your poem.

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  3. I LOVE THIS!!! Such memories of nights floating away from reality...

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  4. smiles...teaching a kid to read is like giving them wings...like giving keys to open doors to a new world....it is the greatest gift...

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  5. You've captured the children's theme nicely with this piece about little Blue and a friend named Flicka! Good job!!!

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  6. Could almost have written this one myself. :)

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  7. I love that ship sail and getting lost in the adventures of the book ~ Really enjoyed this one Sherry ~

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  8. Books are the best friends you can have. Love this poem Sherry . One of my favourites of yours.Books in bed...what could be better !

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  9. ...in a house where no one cooks. whoa!

    nice, mi amiga

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  10. She lives in the pages....I love these lines...nice verse..Sherry

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  11. Imagination and children are linked by the story books- every child must get a chance to learn how to read and may there be more books for children all over the world to dream about and later write about...

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  12. I think books have saved my life more than once too.

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  13. That's so strange...I always imagined my bed was a boat too...even in bad circumstances it is good to discover a commonality in experience..and surviving..even finding fun!

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  14. hey..i think you're writing about me... smiles... books have saved my life more than once... what a world they open...

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  15. Books are a refuge and haven when all else is hard. Such an honest poem.

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  16. This is so darn nice, Sherry!! I love it :)

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  17. I might have written this poem myself, so truly does it represent my life with books. But you said it so much better than I ever could have, Sherry...

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  18. dear lord please help those in houses where no one cooks.

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  19. Really touching Sherry. Losing yourself in a story has been the saving grace it seems for many poets and artists and inspiration for heartfelt works such as yours.

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