We are pleased to have Kelly Letky as our host for today’s poetics prompt.   

Hi everyone! It’s good to be back for a visit to the pub.   Life has taken me away from poetry and blogging and writing these days, so I’m excited to have a chance to visit with all my old friends and catch up on what’s new here as well.

It’s been a busy year, a full year, a painful year. A year of learning how to navigate new paths, learning how to say goodbye, and learning how to cherish the time I have with the people I love.

In that vein, earlier this month my husband and I took my parents to Maine. We had never been, they had never been, and as an added aside, my mom, at 74-years-old, had never seen the ocean.

And so we loaded up the minivan and set off on our great adventure, choosing to stay at a lovely little cabin set on the shore of a small scenic lake, with a resident loon that kept us smiling all week long.

On Tuesday of that week, we set out on a day-trip to visit some lighthouses and find a beach so my mom could get her feet wet, literally. My sister had charged her with not just seeing the ocean but walking in it as well.

We made our way to Owl’s Head Park, and of course, my mom and I both cried at her first glimpse of the big blue expanse. We then moved on to a second lighthouse at Pemaquid, with its absolutely incredible view and the opportunity to climb up into the tower, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge physically for my parents and also for me, with my claustrophobic tendencies. But it was well worth the effort, and after a nice lunch, it was time to head down the road to what we’d heard was a beautiful beach.

It took some effort to find, but we finally made our way to a little park and a path to the shore, and suddenly we were there, on this gorgeous expanse of white sand that we had almost to ourselves. It was perfect, I couldn’t have ordered up a better place in my dreams, and my parents and I walked and gathered stones and shells and feathers with full hearts. My mom stood in the ocean with both arms upraised and the joy of a child on her face.

It was a day I’ll remember always, a memory to cherish, a once-in-a-lifetime first, filled with tears and laughter and wet feet and big smiles. It was a bucket-list moment, fulfilled.

Photo by Kelly

And if you are new to the pub, here’s how it work:

• Write your poem based on the poetry challenge
• Post it on your blog or website
• Leave a comment below to say hello
• Click on Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post and enter your name and the direct URL of your post
• Visit other poets’ work and let them know what you thought
• Spread the word on social media with the #dVersePoets hashtag
• Have fun!

(Kelly Letky is from Farmington, NY, USA, and works as a freelance graphic artist and jewelry designer. In addition to those two hats, she also wears those of poet, photographer, writer, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, crazy cat lady, friend, runner, knitter and gardener. She writes at www.mrsmediocrity.com and www.thebluemuse.com.)