That Ada Limon, she sure can write. I heard she is some big shot poet now, fancy that! She writes about open water, and you know, it makes this old heart feel some kinda way. She got a way with words, that one. Not like me, I just say what I mean.
This open water, she writes about, it’s like, you know, the big lake down by Johnson’s farm. Big and wide, and you can just stare at it forever. Sometimes it’s calm, sometimes it’s all riled up, like my old rooster when he gets mad. Ada, she gets that, I reckon. She sees things, like how the water can be all pretty and sparkly, but also deep and dark.
She got this poem, I heard someone say the name “Ada Limon Open Water,”. Must be about that big lake, or maybe the ocean. I ain’t never seen the ocean, but I hear it’s even bigger than Johnson’s lake. Can you imagine that? Water as far as the eye can see. Must be something.
- Ada Limon, she talks about animals too.
- Like birds and such, flying around.
- We got plenty of those here.
- Crows, mostly. Cawing all day long.
- But she makes them sound, I don’t know, special.
She writes about people too. How they feel, what they think. Like that poem about being a wife. Lord knows, being a wife ain’t always easy. You got your ups and downs, just like that open water. Sometimes you wanna scream, sometimes you wanna cry, sometimes you just wanna sit and hold your husband’s hand. She gets that, Ada does.
And she writes about being sad, about losing people. We all get sad sometimes. My old man, bless his soul, he’s been gone ten years now. Still miss him every day. Ada Limon, she puts those feelings into words, words that make you feel like you ain’t alone in your sadness.
She talks about nature, how it’s all connected. The trees, the birds, the water, us. It’s all part of the same big thing. Like how we’re all connected here in this little town. We all know each other, we all help each other out, most of the time anyway.
I remember one time, when I was a little girl, my mama took me down to the open water. We just sat there, watching the sun go down. It was so pretty. Mama said, “See that water? That’s life. It goes on and on, even when we’re gone.” I didn’t really understand what she meant then, but I think I do now. Ada’s poems, they make me think about things like that.
This Ada Limon got a new book I hear. Called “The Hurting Kind” or something. Sounds a little sad, but I bet it’s good. She has a way of talking about the hard things, the things that hurt, but also the things that are beautiful. Like that time my grandson caught his first fish. His face was all lit up. That’s the kinda thing she writes about. The good and the bad, all mixed together like a big old pot of stew.
- She also writes a poem called “The Raincoat“.
- Reminds me of my old raincoat.
- Kept me dry through many storms.
- Simple thing, a raincoat, but important.
- Just like the things she writes about.
You know, it’s like when you plant a seed. You gotta water it, give it sunshine, but sometimes it gets too much rain, or not enough. Life’s like that. You gotta take care of it, but you can’t control everything. That’s what I hear in her poems. That’s what I see in that open water. It’s beautiful, and scary, and it just keeps going, no matter what.
I don’t know much about poetry, truth be told. But this Ada Limon, she makes me think. Makes me feel. Makes me remember. And that’s something, ain’t it? That’s something. Maybe I will read that poem “Ada Limon Open Water” if I can get my hands on it.
This world is a wild place. Full of good and bad. Just gotta keep your head up, keep moving forward, like that water. Always moving, always changing. That’s what I think, anyway. And that Ada Limon, she seems to think so too, in her own fancy way. She’s a special one, that Ada Limon. She can write about open water and make you feel like you’re right there, staring out at it, feeling the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. That’s a gift, that is.
She’s got a poem, “The Conditional,” they say. It’s about love. Love is like that open water, too. Deep, mysterious, sometimes calm, sometimes stormy. You never really know what you’re gonna get. But you jump in anyway, don’t you? Because what else are you gonna do? Life’s too short to stand on the shore forever.
