Miracle by Harry Thurston

[bitsofbeauty.livejournal.com]

I tell my toddling daughter
not to pick the blossom
explaining that the flower
will turn into a strawberry
in a few short weeks,
then she can pick and eat the sweet fruit.
No sooner are the words out
than I regret forestalling her pleasure – 
for what is one blossom less,
and weeks to a child too long to wait.
And then, too, she looks at me
as if I have told her a lie,
fashioned a twisted fairy tale.
But speaking it, for the first time in years,
I am awed by the miracle 
of what really happens.

Comments

[geosh.livejournal.com]

i really like the first 5 lines. but then feel dense:

"But speaking it, for the first time in years,
I am awed by the miracle
of what really happens."

What really happens?
(is he saying that the strawberry finally grows?)

[bitsofbeauty.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's pretty much how I understood it. Try reading it again out loud - helps me make sense of poetry sometimes =)

[beloved-places.livejournal.com]

reminds me of "walking away", cecil day lewis (:

[bitsofbeauty.livejournal.com]

Hi, no I don't mind being added--in fact I'm very flattered. Notice that I don't post very often though, so hopefully you're not expecting much... And yes, there are world-fulls of ground-breaking, awe-inspiring French poetry out there--I just wish I could read it! I'm in the midst of learning the language at the moment, so hopefully I'll be able to let myself drown in its beauty some day.

Welcome to my humble world :)

[bitsofbeauty.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up! I actually used to be on Livemocha quite a bit when I first started learning. I agree it's a great learning tool, and hopefully I'll make my way back on there any day now :)