Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Once Upon a Childhood





Then came the days of purpled haze
When trees shattered in scattered leaf
Over the marquee of play-days
Felled by the sickle in Fall’s sheaf

…and gardens, like a poem writ
And read until we dearly knew
Each bob and lilt, spilled bit by bit
Where once green shoots of half-dreams grew

…while spring, like a bloom-baron crowned
Be-gowned earth in pink froth, soft gold
Before the quickened kiss that found
The chink in its amorous hold

…as one by one days were undone
And afternoons ran red, leaf-shed
Beneath the wreath of saffron sun
Where once-upon-a-childhood fled

© Janet Martin

Today I do believe spring has turned a corner...
the sun bloomed like a dandelion
in a field of corn-flowers

Today I dreamed in color, 
the flavors of garden-dirt
cleansing winter from my hands 

Today I wore flipflops
And poured an outdoor tea
 the cup of nature overflowed with birdsong

Today we are all poets, 
believers,
minstrels 
beneath
a benevolent sky...

(an excerpt from the book pictured above)



4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post, Janet, thank you :)

    Will be on the lookout for this book. I've only read a handful of poems by Stanley Kunitz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sasha, I thought of you as soon as I opened the book and began reading.Every page is a breath-stealing blend of gardening, wisdom and poetry...the kind that makes you feel like laughing and crying at the same time!

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    2. Sounds like my kind of book! I love the photographs. The one on the front cover made me smile, because I (sort of) recognized myself in it: that's what I do all the time -- bend over whatever I try to grow, just looking at the plants, talking to them :)
      The other photograph is beautiful and sad.

      Is this a book of poetry, or essays, or both?

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    3. It is essays, photos and poetry. Though I may not agree with all of his views pertaining to Immortality, the writing is superb.

      It was the picture of him stooping over a plant that caused me to take notice of the book, A picture worth a thousand words...stooped, listening, learning!

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