Shivering Brief(ly)
The wind blowing across the river
whips my face with a cold spray.
My monthly weather report
and update for those I love complete
and my camera safely stowed,
I turn my red cheeks towards
home, warmth returning
with each stroke of the paddle.
Today was not a typical cold January day. But hey! That’s winter in Missouri!
This poem is my response to Quadrille #144: Shivering, the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word shiver in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
rivrvlogr 
This poem reminds me of the peace that fills me when I am riverside. The river calms me like nothing else. I hope you paddled safely home.
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I did. Thank you, Ali. Actually it was a very warm day, but that’s winter in Missouri — up & down.
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It is always comforting to get home and out of the weather. Last night the weather report had the expected top temperature for cities all over the world Nth America, Sth America Asia Africa and Europe. Included were places like Nairobi, Caracas and Manila and Saigon. Many of the tops were about 32C (90F) Here Melbourne was 34 C (93F) It is still oppressively warm and coming in from shopping if was a great feeling to hit the button on the Aircon.
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We definitely have seen some extremes in the past few years. Predicting the weather may be a science, but the variables we introduce don’t make it any easier. Thank you, John.
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Soo cool, Ken! You radiate enthusiasm for your surroundings, right along with your poetic prowess. Thanks for sharing the specific, personal in such an inviting way.
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Thank you for coming along. 🙂 I posted the video of my original “report” in my comment to David.
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Oh, I like the original too! Cool scene of you reading in the pub.
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😀 Thank you.
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Great poem and video Ken. Winter is a cold shivering time to be out on the water!
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We’ve had some single digit days, but this one actually was in the 50s. Missouri weather! Thanks, Dwight.
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That is what is around here in the winter as well.
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You have a lovely voice, Ken.
Also, what purpose does your monthly weather report serve? Forgive me for being dense, please.
❤
David
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Thank you, David.
No problem.
I started doing them when I moved from NY TO Missouri, as a way to touch base with my children and my sisters back east. I’ll talk about recent happenings and put them on Facebook. They usually are about 10 minutes in length.
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so not just weather, then? 🙂
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Last year was a lot of health issues. Fortunately, that’s past. This time I talked about poetry. The monthly “report” always talks about what birds I’ve seen.
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Nice poem!
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🙂 Thank you.
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Very cool, Ken! I appreciate the on-the-spot location of your weather report (and poem reading).
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Thank you. 🙂
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Thank you for sharing your monthly weather report and surroundings with us and/in your poem. I river scene and your voice are both soothing.
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Thank you, Merril. I do this once a month to share with family. Some times I put it off to near the end of the month — the effort of loading & unloading the kayak (twice) — but then once I’m on the water I regret waiting.
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You’re welcome, Ken.
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Oh Ken, this is fantastic. Such a treat to hear your voice.
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Thank you! 🙂 I’ve done video poems (as well as just audio) for a while, but I don’t always post my audio versions. Sometimes while kayaking I’ll compose & talk to my phone so I have notes when I get home. “Writing” that way is helped by the way I stress words, so maybe those verbal notes improve my delivery if I actually present them. I’ll also do that when traveling alone — phone safely mounted on the dash, of course!
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I like how you knitted the Forecast together with your poem. Clever.
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Love the reading of your weather there. There’s always a warmth in returning home.
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Most definitely! No place…
Thank you, Grace. 🙂
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I really liked both the poem and the video, Ken – felt right there with you!
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Thank you, Lynne. 🙂
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wonderful! I really like the overlay of video and poem. (K)
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Thank you. These monthly “reports” are always in the back of my mind, but I wouldn’t have thought to do this if I hadn’t just completed the original video. It’s all in the timing.
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It’s a thoughtful way to stay in touch in these travel-deprived times.
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Coming home after a tryst with frigid cold is always comforting. Really enjoyed the audio-visual poem, gives new depth. Thanks for sharing. Hi
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And thank you. 🙂
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Your love tames the shiver, can’t keep a passion down. Here we’ve had 100+F which is partly due to the La Niña effect.
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Yikes!
And thank you.
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I love the video, Ken: that really adds an extra dimension!
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🙂 Thank you.
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I think it will a few months until I can go out paddling… I am hoping more to skate.
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Skating here would be confined to indoors.
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