Tuesday, June 22, 2021

summer

 

it is summer and i count back-

wards


the wintry clouds 

a midnight blanket

i fluff & huff

darkness to fold away 

shadows to box up


this rain is spring 

in my measuring cup 

i salt the soil with seeds

lightness to drink from

brightness to smudge with


this sun is mad ball

of fire

wrinking my skin to red

clay, muddy brown & yellowing 

leaves


i marvel the sky

an umbrella of majestic russet shades


this sun wrapped hours, i savor

while drinking cool water

this summer is a jar 

bathed in wilted lemon

                                  flowers

i count back-

wards                                    

                                                        


Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's quote:  It is very hard to write this way, beginning things backward…

–The Torrents of Spring (1926)                                         


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - One True Sentence, hosted by Lisa Fox.  Thanks for your visits and comments.

22 comments:

  1. wonderful... who could believe that we would be here in this heat after the cold winter... but maybe when I sit here thinking it's too hot it's good to ponder how it was

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  2. This is incredibly gorgeous, Grace!💝 Especially love; "this rain is spring in my measuring cup i salt the soil with seeds lightness to drink from brightness to smudge with."💝

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  3. I especially like this stanza:
    "this rain is spring
    in my measuring cup
    i salt the soil with seeds
    lightness to drink from
    brightness to smudge with"

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  4. I love the way you went with the prompt, counting backwards from winter to summer. You had me playing the year backwards in my head, quite an unsettling and thought-provoking effect!

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  5. Aw, yes. Summer is finally here. Nicely done Grace.

    Pat

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  6. So lovely. The truth is so surprising read backwards.

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  7. I could almost see the hands of the clock spinning backward, the calendar pages re-gluing themselves. Great work, Grace

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  8. I love this at the end: "this summer is a jar bathed in wilted lemon flowers." Gorgeous imagery!

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  9. What a lovely write. I echo the appreciation of this stanza in particular.
    "this rain is spring

    in my measuring cup

    i salt the soil with seeds

    lightness to drink from

    brightness to smudge with"

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  10. Grace, so many lovely lines in your poem. Sigh ......

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  11. Grace,
    So lovely. You took us backwards in clouds, rain, sky, sun, through the seasons and back again, "the sun wrapped hours" as in a lovely melody of imagery.
    pax,
    dora

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  12. very nice,like the second stanza very much. 'shadows to box up'

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  13. I enjoyed this reflective testament to summer.

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  14. The circle goes in both directions...

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  15. oh the looping of this poem took my breath away. the in-between images. umbrella of colors. wow. wow.

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  16. What a delicate whispering graceful poem! I love all the sensory details.
    "a midnight blanket"
    "darkness to fold away"
    "The sun is mad ball of fire"
    "the summer is a jar bathed in wilted lemon flowers"
    Gorgeous <3

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  17. To count backwards is perhaps just as difficult as walking backwards. Great, you've done it well, Grace!

    Hank

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  18. all of it cool, especially "i salt the soil with seeds".

    are you expressing your e.e. cummings side, and not capitalizing?

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