Where Do You Come From? #NaPoWriMo18 #NPM2018

people of the fields
swift and strong
people born along the river
river of rivers

red like an ember
sacred center
place of pomegranates
land of flames

place of abundant fish
land of shallow sea
beside the water
high and beautiful

land beside the silvery river
place where one stands
land of the long white clouds
waterside dweller
land of many trees
forest clearer
bird’s tail

eight standing together
in the naval of the moon
mountain of whiteness
stone enclosure

land of many rabbits
land of young cattle
land of argument
those who went away

place of refuge
there
where the land ends

Notes: I have been obsessed with this map of literal translations of country names since I first saw it. The map itself is beautiful, and the country names are poetry. Every line of this found poem is a different country name literally translated from its original language. The photo shows a 1689 world map. Photo CC-BY Chuck Coker at Flickr.com

Posted

April 21, 2018

NaPoWriMo, poems

Elisabeth Ellington

Tags:

#napowrimo18, poetry challenge, poetry writing month

Comments

5 responses to “Where Do You Come From? #NaPoWriMo18 #NPM2018”

Amanda Potts

April 21, 2018

I was entranced as I read this, puzzling things out. I read & reread the early stanzas, then relaxed into the rhythms and images. I *love* that this is literal translations of country names. What an amazing & fun resource. I am already dreaming about what to do with it…

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margaretsmn

April 21, 2018

This is fascinating and poetic. Each line could be a title.

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cweichel

April 22, 2018

Like Amanda I kept wondering wondering and revelling in the words and images. After I read your notes at the end, I went and read it again with new perspective and enthusiasm.

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#NPM2018: Time to Fill the Well | Reflections on the Teche

April 22, 2018

[…] my poem, I took a line from Elisabeth Ellington’s Poem “Where do you Come From?” She wrote that each line of her poem was the translated name of a real place. I responded that […]

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glenda funk

April 22, 2018

This is a clever, clever, clever found poem. The translations add depth to the names, and it all works to remind us of our place in the world. Maps fascinate me. My mentor in the NEA Master Teacher Project is a historian and cartographer who worked at the Boston PL eight years. She and I spent lots of time talking about maps.

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