Thursday, April 21, 2011

Julie Larios - Far from Home

Far from Home
by
Julie Larios

From my room this morning I could hear
the the cu-cu-ru-ing of a Spanish dove…
this little bird calling me is why I love
a long trip, when I know I’m near
creatures I never thought I’d meet:
a French dog barking, a Welsh cow mooing,
a Czech hen clucking, a Spanish dove cooing –
even a river rippling in a language new to me!
Now I see kids on the bridge, playing –
I wonder what they’re saying?

©2011 Julie Larios. All rights reserved.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love the way Julie Larios uses words. Sometimes she makes me laugh, sometimes she surprises me with cleverness, sometimes she makes me see something from a new angle, and sometimes she does all that and more. For two other examples of "all that and more", check out her poem No Strings Attached here at GottaBook, and What Bee Did from the Cortland Review.

Julie Larios is another poet here who writes for both children and adults, and she also teaches and blogs, too. I know I've learned a ton (and realized how much fun wordplaying can be)  just from reading her posts and poetry, so it's a real pleasure for me to have her here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Earlier we had Ralph Fletcher with Mystery Flower. Up next, Brod Bagert and "If I..." For more information on 30 Poets/30 Days and how to follow along, please click here.

4 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

I remember the first time I heard a rook and a magpie -- the thrill! "We're not in Kansas anymore!"

Rita said...

This is delightful. I love how the language of kids playing (whom, in theory, we can understand) becomes something musical and new. This makes us hear and observe in a new way.

A masterpiece! Thank you!!

Charles Waters said...

I love how detailed Julie made her poem!!!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Julie is a brilliant poet. She is a true wordsmith. I marvel at what she can do with language.

Lovely poem, Julie!