Sail Away

Sail Away

Juvenile poetry
"To make words sing
Is a wonderful thing--
Because in a song
Words last so long."
If ever there was a poet who could make words sing, he was
Langston Hughes. One of the outstanding writers of the Harlem
Renaissance, he practiced his craft masterfully for nearly half a
century. Sail Away brings together a selection of his poems centered
around waters for a juvenile audience. They evoke a full range of
feelings and tempos and are meant to be read aloud.
My two favorites are the very wistful Water-Front Streets
"The spring is not so beautiful there--
But dream ships sail away
To where the spring is wondrous rare
And life is gay.

The spring is not so beautiful there
But lads put out to sea
Who carry beauties in their hearts
And dreams like me."
And the tender Moonlight Night: Carmel
"Tonight the waves march
In long ranks
Cutting their darkness
With their silver shanks,
Cutting the darkness
And kissing the moon
And beating the land's
Edge into a swoon."
If there is any living artist who deserves to illustrate the
poetry of Langston Hughes, he is Maine's own island dwelling, as in
ocean close, Ashley Bryan. I think he has earned every juvenile lit
award there is to be had. Rightly so. His collages, blending simple
shapes into complex patterns, are masterpieces of color and motion.
With Moonlight Night: Carmel, cresting waves reach up to a star filled
sky. The cautionary tale simply titled F shows a greedy fish about to
chomp down on a big green fly and the hook it disguises while a
smaller fish looks on aghast.
Sail Away is a must acquire for public and school libraries and
a wonderful addition to family collections.
On a personal note, today was Culturefest at UMaine. We had groups
from all kinds of organizations tabling. I was with Amnesty
International. We had this huge world map and a bunch of markers. We
invited people to write in their visions for a better world. Everyone
who stopped by participated. One 4-year-old carefully printed DOG.
There was lots of international food to buy. Many people wore
colorful international clothes. In fact after the tabling there was a
fashion show.
I had a wonderful yesterday too. Kat and I photographed a cool
beetle. Before our lunch Liv and I went shopping at Black Bear
Exchange. We found me 4 shirts including a cat one and three amazing
dresses. (Today I wore a fifties style sailor one and got scads of
compliments). Supper was pizza at International student coffee hour.
And I ended up at my Peace & Justice Center steering committee meeting.
A great big shout out goes out to all the people who were with me
through my two days of adventures.
jules hathaway





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