Friday, June 17, 2016

leaving the dwarf orchard

also... it's not all about me
Today is the last day of my first year in second grade.  It brought some surprises, and then other surprises came from without and within. Small tumults.

Tonight it's storming; the sky dogs are baying.

Now summer drifts up like a watermelon boat, a banana hammock hung from broccoli trees, and I will get in.




After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard || Charles Wright

East of me, west of me, full summer.
How deeper than elsewhere the dusk is in your own yard.
Birds fly back and forth across the lawn
                                                                                           looking for home
As night drifts up like a little boat.

Day after day, I become of less use to myself.
Like this mockingbird,
                                                     I flit from one thing to the next.
What do I have to look forward to at fifty-four?
Tomorrow is dark.
                                           Day-after-tomorrow is darker still.

The sky dogs are whimpering.
Fireflies are dragging the hush of evening
                                                                                              up from the damp grass.
Into the world’s tumult, into the chaos of every day,
Go quietly, quietly.

 
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It's good to be back among you.  I read miles and miles of poetry last night to find this one, and it was like eating again after a long fast.  Thanks to Carol for hosting over at Carol's Corner, and I'm looking forward to a summer of reading and writing with this Poetry Friday community!



10 comments:

  1. Lovely Heidi.I especially like: Fireflies are dragging the hush of evening
    up from the damp grass.
    Enjoy your summer!

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  2. I like the fireflies line, also. Will you be staying with second grade next year, Heidi?

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  3. I love your images of watermelon boats, banana hammocks, and broccoli trees. And "fireflies dragging the hush of evening up from the damp grass." Wow! Be sure to check out Gathering Books post. They have some photographs that go perfectly with your post!

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  4. I love your images of watermelon boats, banana hammocks, and broccoli trees. And "fireflies dragging the hush of evening up from the damp grass." Wow! Be sure to check out Gathering Books post. They have some photographs that go perfectly with your post!

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  5. Congratulations on the last day of second grade! Elena's last exam is this morning. Whew! This month has really been a bear. Have a wonderful, creative summer!

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  6. I love Charles Wright. Here's another dwarf orchard snippet:
    "Snub end of a dismal year,
    deep in the dwarf orchard,
    The sky with its undercoat of blackwash and point stars,
    I stand in the dark and answer to
    My life, this shirt I want to take off,
    which is on fire . . ."

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  7. Happy you are finished with the year, and can look toward summer. After returning from my vacation, and then the terrible news the next day I find " I flit from one thing to the next." also. Thanks for this from Charles Wright, Heidi.

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  8. Enjoy your summer, Heidi. Great poem find.

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  9. I am fifty-four and have days of flitting about not knowing what it is I should be doing. But mostly, I am happy with where I am. Happy summer! An open book before you. What are your plans?

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  10. Enjoy your time in your hammock, Heidi! I will keep these wise words with me: "Into the world’s tumult, into the chaos of every day,/Go quietly, quietly." Thank you for sharing this beauty.

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Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!