A Letter: On A Morning, One Week After You Left
The garden's fence was dressed in morning glory.
One liverwort's crescent held its last gemma.
A cruciform blossom evoked the trilemma -
How can that Soul be sent to Upper Story?
The dampened soil was fresh with petrichor
(Which I discovered when the rain had stopped
Its long unceasing murmur; up I propped
The window in that room of vellichor
You always sit to read in when you come).
Beyond the fence, dew-dropped viridity
Was dancing on the spring-leaves of the Plum
And Apricot in the orchard. Don't you see
You should be here? The evening crickets hum
Now as I write. I miss our talks. Miss me?
Memories
We'd take our walks up to the mountain's heights
As dusk was falling, just to see the stars,
Sans cityscape, or tree-lines reaching far
Above horizons. Then, those twinkling lights,
In number, brightness, seen on new moon nights,
Were numinous. Surrounding, it was dark,
And icy - breath was visible - but that arc's
Celestial gemstones gave us such delight
That all were silent of it. Now, today,
If you should ask, "Where's Venus?" or "That gleam
Of red - what is it?" "Sisters? Where are they?"
I'd show you in an instant, for it seems
Those hikes, dried apricots, boots caked with clay,
Then millions of stars, is ever in my dreams.
Comments
Lovely poetry! I loved the
Lovely poetry! I loved the imagery of both of them! 'Sans cityscape ' was my favorite little bit. Beautiful use of alliteration! So visible!
Introverts unite!
Separately!
From the comfort of your own homes!
Thanks so much! On some of
Thanks so much! On some of the words - "petrichor" (the pleasant smell after a rain) and "vellichor" (the charm of a used bookstore) are words I got off the Merriam-Webster website on a list entitled "Words That Aren't Really Words but the Internet Loves Them Anyway" (or something like that). So I beg you - all of you - take these words, and use them! They are just plain awesome and the more they're used, the more likely they'll become "legitimate" words. :P :D
.....Oh, yeah, I liked "sans
.....Oh, yeah, I liked "sans cityscape", too. And, ahhh, yes, let's make those words!!!!!
There are divine--meant to be
There are divine--meant to be savored, rich with language! How beautiful, and how incredibly talented you are. They're a prism of loveliness; they transplanted me to spring days with flowers blooming, good books, fresh air. Something vivid and awakening lives within these--I seriously adore them! I don't know if I've experienced an imaginative response to a poem as visceral as mine here--seriously, I can feel spring.
The window in that room of vellichor
You always sit to read in when you come
^ My favorite lines from the bunch! There's just something about them that's quaint and bittersweet.
These are so wonderful, Hannah! I think you've posted poetry before and I feel like I raved then, but seriously--please, please, please share more!
Thank you so much, Madeline!
Thank you so much, Madeline! <3 Yes, you have, and you're quite encouraging enough to make me want to try again. : )
Back.
I just so loved the first one. And I can't even really explain why. I think it's because I didn't understand all the words (like what's a gemma?) but I grasped a feeling, even a meaning, and that's what magnificent poetry accomplishes... you completely pulled it off here. I was sitting in that room of books, thinking someone else should have been there, and just FEELING spring outside. I also was so puzzled and intrigued by "Upper Story". I like being puzzled and intrigue, haha. It lets my mind come up with its own meaning. I think that part felt particularly Dickinson-ish to me, too. And again, your pacing/punctuation -- so unique, but fitting like puzzle pieces.
The second one -- I had to look up the word "numinous" -- I was thinking "numerous", but no, it means akin to something spiritual. And I just really liked the sound of "new moon nights / Were numinous". And you RHYME. I'm just realizing this. You RHYMED in both poems. People so rarely do that these days! Or at least, they rarely achieve the FEELING of a free-form poem and also successfully rhyme... These poems are worth reading over and over.
My favorite lines, which gave a pang to my heart and I so identified:
"If you should ask, "Where's Venus?" or "That gleam
Of red - what is it?" "Sisters? Where are they?"
I'd show you in an instant, for it seems
Those hikes, dried apricots, boots caked with clay,
Then millions of stars, is ever in my dreams."
I had no idea you wrote poetry. You are phenomenal.
These are beautiful, Hannah.
These are beautiful, Hannah. I love your unique wording, and the pace is perfection. Very pleasant to read.
I don’t thrive off of chaos: chaos thrives off of me.
Your comments mean so much to
Your comments mean so much to me, thank you so much!
Yeah, on "gemma" . . . my only excuse for using a word that obscure is that I just took Botany. :P You'd have to look very closely at a liverwort plant (and a magnifying glass would help) but the plant has these little crescent indentations, which are made to hold what look like tiny little green pebbles. Each pebble is a gemma, which is just a packet of tissue that can grow into another liverwort (gemmation is one of several ways plants can clone themselves). So . . . yeah. XD
Thank you again! I'm so happy you enjoyed these, your comments are so encouraging!!
Mon, 02/20/2017 - 23:33
In reply to Your comments mean so much to by Hannah D.
Oh, no, no, I love obscure
Oh, no, no, I love obscure words!!! No excuse necessary ever for using one!!!
Oh, I'm glad to hear that! :
Oh, I'm glad to hear that! : ) Thank you!
OH MY GOODNESS. I didn't know
OH MY GOODNESS. I didn't know you wrote poetry. Wait, I'll come back to this later. But just right now: OH MY GOODNESS.
The first one had a Dickinson-ish feel to me (maybe the capitalization?) and I have to look up some of those words, haha (which I love) (though I know 'cruciform'). And both poems had SUCH unique pacing and sentence breaks. I LOVED IT. I had to read the first one aloud. I'll enjoy these more later, again -- when I have less paperwork-ish stuff to do. This was just an apricotpie break haha. Happy Valentine's Day!