inspiration in a line {poetry thursday}
This week’s prompt is a fun one. All the different lines people shared in the comments on this week’s (completely and totally optional) idea post over at Poetry Thursday inspired me quite a bit. In a way, I wish they would have each posted a blog post about why they chose that line of their own poetry.
I borrowed a line from Megan (you can read her original poem here). I decided to wait to read her poem until I was ready to share mine. And I was delighted in the serendipity of both of us finding inspiration in fruit. Megan, thank you for sharing this line...I appreciate the places it took me with this poem.
I am still trying to write shorter poems with few adjectives/adverbs…though this one was a bit longer than the other ones I have been playing with lately. It is a draft, but I will share it all the same.
portraits
leaning against the counter,
cup of tea in hand,
looking at the apples
resting in a clean white bowl:
when I am down the hall or
at the store or
when my back is turned
as I stand at the stove,
do my grandmother,
her mother,
and her mother’s mother
talk to one another,
share secrets, and
peek in on me
as though their portraits exist
in Rowling’s world?
last week,
after I poured the slices
of fuji, jonagold, and granny smith
and watched them simmer,
did my grandmother pause their conversation and say,
“she is adding the spices now”
and then appear over my shoulder
as I tossed in the sugar,
sprinkled in nutmeg, and then
tapped the jar of cinnamon against the side of the pan,
so that I could hear her whisper,
“don’t you think that’s a bit too much?”
poetry
Reader Comments (20)
Sweet and spicy! Oops... Sorry for the adjectives... I couldn't help it ;)
I loved this, Liz- we are still connected to those we love, even though they aren't with us physically... just wonderful...
I love the way you capture a particular moment in your poem. I especially liked the detail of the specific apple names. I could smell the sauce.
that is incredibly delicious.
you are just magic, girlfriend.
i like that a lot. the history and the linkages and the ancestry flowing through you ~~~
xoxo
I love poems about family history, family traditions. It tells us where we have been and where we are going. Lovely,I especially liked: "did my grandmother pause their conversation and say,
“she is adding the spices now”
and then appear over my shoulder"
Beautiful, Liz. And I wonder the same kinds of things about those who have passed.
This gave me chills...though it a really really good way. I had an image of your loved ones gathered around you in spirit whispering secrets both amongst themselves, as well as to you. You did such a beautiful job with this Liz!!!!
xoxoxoxo
The scent of a family recipe cooking calling all the women who ever made it to gather.....
Hi Liz,
Your poem took in the visual aspects of the apples, but I could also smell them, warm and spicy, and feel your grandmother over your shoulder whispering in your ear. Very lovely! I used your line in my poem http://rs-musings.blogspot.com/2007/01/call-me-destructive.html" REL="nofollow">call me destructive. Thanks. Hope you like it.
-Robin
i like this,
i like this
how it carrys one along
and ends in conversation...
wonderful.
This is so nostalgic. Takes one back on all those loved and shared family times.
This is so sweet and so effective. The title is perfect - it's a lovely imagined portrait of your family.
this poem made me sweetly sad...it was wonderfully written, liz. thanks for sharing.
a beautiful poem. you left out the adjectives but lost none of the richness.
and yes, i think maybe they do.
x
I loved Megan's line, "resting in a clean white bowl", too, but I was completely suprised by where you took it. Don't know why, but it seemed unexpected. And I really liked that, and where you went with it; rich, like all those spices, yet simple, too.
love love love these sentiments and how you've brought them to life in my kitchen.
thank you.
this takes me right back to my mother's kitchen and I can smell the applesauce. Yes, I think once someone is tied in as much as our mothers are, they never really go away...and how like a good mother to say that we might be overdoing it...with spices of all sorts. thanks for the trip, the truth and for touching off some mum memories.
This reminded me of some wonderful magic realism book/film, like "Like Water for Chocolate" or something. Lovely. I offered the line I did because someone commented that my line breaks gave added meaning beyond the original intent and used that line as an example. I knew I wanted to use HIS line as a jumping-off point on Thursday (whatever it might be) and found it in the PT comments...right next to mine. ;)
The last stanza gave me the shiveries. The levels, just deeper and deeper... beautiful.
How wonderful! I love that your grandmother has appeared in this way... bringing the chain of mothers along with her. Marvellous poem. I am smiling as I reread.