MONTAUK
(a pastiche of Yeat’s “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”)
I will arise and go now and drive down to Montauk,
and spread a favorite blanket there, and lie in the summer sun,
and later rise and watch the gulls or take a seaside walk
that ends with a sunset run.
And I shall climb the bluffs there, the bluffs of reddish clay,
spotting yellow sundrops that adorn the hither hills,
then back down to the ocean, where the soft-shells make their way
in foaming wavelet’s ebbing rills.
I will arise and go now, for I love to hear the sound
of the boisterous breakers crashing like thunder on the beach
while I stand on the sand and listen as they crest, then break, then pound,
then rush to my feet just out of reach.
© 2016 B.J. Lee. All rights reserved.
Ann Rider has challenged us to write poems about places of refuge and solace this month. Click HERE for more details.
Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, November 25th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of BEFORE MORNING by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
Thanks for featuring my poem, Michelle. Ah Montauk. I wish I was there right now (if it was summer of course) to hear the waves crashing at my feet.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteIt's beautiful, B.J. Since once in a while I find Yeats reading his poem, I can just imagine hearing your words in that serious tone, that beautiful place of yours, "spotting yellow sundrops that adorn the hither hills". It feels just right!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Linda! I'm glad you think it works! I tried... There is, or used to be, a campground in Montauk called Hither Hills. I just had to fit that in. :) I wanted to go for heather (the heather on the hills like in Brigadoon) but not sure heather grows near Hither Hills although beach heather does grow on Long Island. anyway... thanks again. Best, BJ
DeleteLovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Liz! I appreciate that!
DeleteSweet, BJ!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sean!
DeleteThere you are again, channeling the greats. What am I saying? You ARE one of the greats, BJ!
ReplyDeleteawwww shucks. Thank you, Michelle. I LOVE to do pastiche and parody when I can. I'm glad it worked this time!
DeleteI loved being/camping at Montauk. Your poem brought me back there.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you went to Montauk, Barb! How interesting. We never camped at Hither Hills; instead we stayed with our Uncle John.
DeleteI've never been, but now I must.
ReplyDeleteYes, David, you must! It's absolutely wonderful - at the very end of Long Island!
DeleteB.J.
ReplyDeleteI spent so much time as a child at Hither Hills! (Where were you from? Do you remember the big duck on the way there? And yes, it is still there, though I have to admit that the wonderful picnic area on the hill, does not appear as magnificent or tall as it did as a child. In order to get a campsite there, you have to sign up at midnight on Jan. 1, it is that incredibly popular. I have a poem in the recent On Montauk, an anthology about clamming with my grandmother on the East End. (They had a place in East Hampton, though not the ritzy Hamptons of these days. My happiest childhood memories are in East Hampton and in Montauk.) My sister has a spot on the beach there now...nothing gloriously fancy but still wonderful, however I rarely get there. So you have touched a nerve for sure. This is a fabulous poem and would have made it into that anthology, I am positive. I tried to write a Hither Hills memory but could not do it in time, so this just really speaks to me. LOVE.
PS From Janet Clare on FB
DeleteYes, Skanny, I remember the big duck! We would drive from NJ when we lived there and from CT when we lived there and take the ferry from Bridgeport(I believe) to Port Jefferson. I never actually camped at Hither Hills although a good friend of mine used to all the time and I've been there. We stayed at our Uncle's who was a deep sea fishing captain, a very colorful fellow! The beach we used to go to was called "Ditch Plains" if I'm not mistaken. I'm glad you like my poem! I would have loved to have known about the anthology. Oh well! It sounds wonderful!
DeleteWe camped at Ditch Plains once. Loved it. Truly love your poem and I will share your it with Celine Keating,the Montauk co-editor. She loved Hither Hills, too. Janet F. (I am the Sybil of the Internet...don't ask...it was just that in the beginning I didn't know how or realize.....what would happen...I am a late bloomer.)
DeleteThis is a lovely poem that takes me to a far away place where I can rest a bit. Thanks, B.J.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret! Yes, we can all use a far away place right now to get a bit of rest. Maybe we should all descend on Montauk! Though, a bit cold there at the moment, I should think. :)
DeleteI love especially "boisterous breakers crashing like thunder ." This is a wonderful poem. Thanks so much for it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rosi! I appreciate that! The breakers are particularly boisterous at Montauk! :)
DeleteLovely imagery, thanks for your journey to "Montauk" BJ!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome, Michelle, and thank you!
DeleteSo beautiful. Thank you, BJ.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jill! Glad you stopped by!
ReplyDelete