Book Spine Poetry: Water

Below are four poems on the theme of water. All poems are taken from book spines (book titles below)! See Tweetspeak's August Rain Project details, then jump in and make your own splash!

I

If all
the seas
were one sea,
paddle
to the sea.

II

Roll of thunder, hear
my cry after the rain.
The story of my life:
Through flood and fire
twenty-thousand leagues
under the sea (twenty
is too many), everything
that rises must converge.
Esperanza* rising.

III

Come over to my house. (We live
by the river between Walden
and the whirlwind.) Scribbling in
the sand by many waters over sea,
under stone crossings, we tangle-talk
a river of words—rain, drop,
splash.

IV

Alligators all around! Make way
for ducklings! Fly away,
fly away over the sea
to Gone-Away Lake!

*"Esperanza" is "hope" in Spanish.

Book titles (most are children's books):

If All the Seas Were One Sea, by Janina Domanska
Paddle-to-the-sea, by Holling C. Holling
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
After the Rain, by Norma Fox Mazer
The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller
Through Flood and Fire, by Robert W. Mackenna
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
Twenty Is Too Many, by Kate Duke
Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor
Esperanza Rises, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Come Over to My House, by Theo. LeSeig
We Live by the River, by Lois Lensky
Between Walden and the Whirlwind, by Jean Fleming
Scribbling in the Sand, by Michael Card
Many Waters, by Madeleine L'Engle
Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper
Stone Crossings, by L.L. Barkat
Tangle-Talk, by W. Nikola-Lisa
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, by Jen Bryant
Rumors of Water, by L.L. Barkat
Rain, Drop, Splash, by Alvin Tresselt and Leonard Weisgard
Alligators All Around, by Maurice Sendak
Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
Fly Away, Fly Away Over the Sea, by Christina Rossetti
Gone-Away Lake, by Elizabeth Enright