Of boats and poetry...

Why are some days like this and others not? Today, poetry is everywhere. I actually hear the words spoken aloud in my head when I walk the dog, when I clean the kitchen, when I bid for yet another kayak on eBay.

For Netty and Dianne and Janet when they come kayaking with me next summer, I tell myself when I justify the eBay bidding, four kayaks and a canoe already in the garage, and then a poem speaks in my head about it, a "kayaks in the garage" poem.

You can never have too many boats, kayakers are fond of saying. Other kayakers understand immediately. Non-kayakers just look at you as if you're nuts, an "Imelda Marcos" with too many shoes. Not a bad analogy, shoes and boats. You wear a kayak, rather than ride in it like other boats. There are different boats for different occasions, different weather and water conditions, different levels of expertise. You wouldn't wear sandals in the snow in winter, although sandals are perfect for the beach in summer. I don't want my friends to tip in the Grand River, nor to have to lug a 50 pound boat up and then off my car and to the launch point. The little eBay kayak, brand new and located in my hometown so I don't have to pay shipping, will be just the right fit.

It is a wet cold October day. Drearily ordinary in many ways. Yet poems speak in my head in loud whispers. I actually hear the words. Everything is a poem, and it is exhilarating. You can never have too many poems, a poet might very well say. And kayakers would understand...

-Marianne