Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Tsi-Laan


Chelan, in Salish

it means “deep water.”

 

Innumerable pieces of our hearts

are folded there

into its blue waves.

 

They scallop toward us in dreams

reflecting the rugged green

of shoreline firs and pines,

 

little houses dotting the hillside,

boat slips bouncing near the shore.

 

The cabin cradled

in the hillside above it

echoes from the sound

of all we shared there,

our infant family

now grown large.

 

Memories, thick

as the blueberry pies

made from our fresh pick—

of our cooler filled

with sandwiches and apples,

our little open bow boat

filled with sunscreen

and laughter.

 

We lost sunglasses to Tsi-Laan—

t-shirts, frisbees, our hearts,

to the deep of it.

 

And those surrounding hills,

clothed in golden summer velvet

above the tree line,

get swallowed up in its crystal hue,

 

the way we always do—

the swell of memories

in a wake behind us,

 

floating on a dream.

 

 

© 2024 Jennifer Wagner

 

For Melissa’s prompt at dVerse using the artwork of Alma Thomas.  I used her Light Blue Nursery (1968) pictured above.

 

Fun facts:  Lake Chelan is the deepest lake in Washinton state, the third deepest in the US, and the 25-28th deepest in the world (depending upon the source).  I’ve written about it a few times before.

 

10 comments:

  1. Wonderful, I can see this place come alive in the painting. So beautifully nostalgic. It's magic how you have wielded your words into the colours. Love it!

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  2. Makes me smile. A beautiful poem and a wonderful tribute to so many great memories

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  3. A beautiful response to the image, Jennifer! I love the use of active verbs, which bring it alive, such as ‘scallop toward us in dreams’ and ‘boat slips bouncing near the shore’. I especially love the simile ‘memories, thick as the blueberry pies made from our fresh pick’.

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  4. This poem put a smile on my dial. It floats beautifully on your interpretation of the art.

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  5. As a native and nearly lifelong resident of the Great Lakes State, I will, with difficulty, refrain from breaking out the Leo DiCaprio smirk meme. << Such nonsense aside, your poem is alive with the vibrant details of a place and time that has left a part of itself in you, and you in it. Such places and shared experiences--especially when viewed through the lens of time and change--form the bones of who we are and what matters to us. I can't think of better stuff to create a poem from and yours conveys all of it to us, your lucky readers.

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  6. Such vibrant memories and you make them magical with your word wizardry. Beautiful as always, Jennifer.

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  7. A lovely miracle of a poem.
    “Innumerable pieces of our hearts
    are folded there
    into its blue waves.”
    I find these lines especially striking. I really like the way the waves reflect the shoreline and everything on it, we are all floating on that dream. Thanks so much for writing to the prompt, Jennifer!💙

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  8. "And those surrounding hills,

    clothed in golden summer velvet

    above the tree line,

    get swallowed up in its crystal hue,"

    I love what you discovered in this painting.

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  9. This is a stunning poem with all the details of the growing family, the place of shoreline firs and pines. Love the golden and lost memories of the place along with the colors specially the blue.

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  10. A lush poem, lush with memory's fruits and waves of remembrance that carry us along upon the beautiful "chelan" of the heart. You have woven another masterpiece, Jen, that's a true pleasure to read.

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Thank you for your thoughts!