Brackish
Brackish
Josie Ellis
I am made of oceans:
In my thinking,
feeling,
speaking,
in my tidal chart days.
I am governed by something more than me.
All around us yet often unnoticed. Polluted and protected, worshiped and neglected. Water is within us, beneath us, and above us all at the same time. In her debut poetry collection, Josie Ellis explores the deeper ways in which water shapes and touches us in this world. Through the expansive mirrors of three sections of poems, Tidal Pools, Tributaries, and Watershed, Ellis reflects on young adulthood and connection. Drawing from her own experiences and memories of lakes and oceans, pools, and bays—from a river baptism to the smell of chlorine on one’s skin—she attempts to uncover and celebrate how and why we value water in the way we do. Most of all, she urges us to see “what a privilege it is to feel / water in one’s hands.”
POETRY | Paperback | 2024 | ISBN: 979-8-9877055-8-2
Photo by Winky Lewis
About the Author
Josie Ellis grew up in Washington D.C., but now resides in Portland, Maine, where she attends Casco Bay High School. A longtime lover of poetry and an alumnus of multiple Telling Room programs, Ellis was a junior when she joined Young Emerging Authors and wrote Brackish, her first collection of poetry. She sees writing as her way to connect with the world around her and cannot wait to see how her identity as a poet expands. When not writing, she enjoys studying history, being in nature, and dancing with friends.
Book Discussion Guide
Discussion Questions:
What’s a memory that comes to mind when you think about water?
What is the significance of water to you? To your community? Do you feel like you take water for granted? Has that changed after reading Brackish?
In what ways do you feel connected to nature, specifically to water? What do you love about being outside? How does your relationship with nature impact who you are as a person?
Do you have any fear/anxieties regarding water? (This can be anything from not knowing how to swim to concerns about climate change) What is your process in managing those fears? Do they bring you closer to water or further away from it?
Writing Prompts:
Write about a body of water you have a special connection to. What does that place mean to you?
Go on a walk in nature near a body of water. Observe your surroundings and write about what you see. Interact with the water—touch it, throw a rock into it, move it with a stick. Write about your new observations and reflections.
Write a six word memoir about a body of water of your choice.
Activity:
Create a memory map for significant bodies of water you’ve experienced. Be sure to describe to draw/write down your memories of them as well
(This is an example of a memory map. In this case, the students were asked to recall their childhood neighborhoods instead of bodies of water. By using the map, you can both draw the bodies of water that are significant to you, and describe why.)
Resources for Readers:
Maine Conservation Alliance
Natural Resources Council of Maine
Maine Environmental Education
Maine Youth Climate Justice
Momentum Conservation