Featuring cherita!


August 18, 2017

Poetry Friday--"Sweet August"

I wrote this poem back in the cold days of February as part of a Laura Shovan's yearly February daily writing challenge. We were required to use these words taken from an article on women writers:
Unicorn
Cabin
Glut
Cousin
Fever
Sing
Kitchen
Flee
Peach
Sour
Bonus: refuge

The poem is much better suited to today, and, its illustration, makes me drool!

I don't come from a large extended family such as the one in this poem, but, I've read a lot, and I have an imagination!


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. I took the photo a few years back, cropped it, and enhanced the color a bit. But, even without the enhancement, the peaches were mouthwatering.

Text:

Sweet August

Outside, Gran's cabin
a glut of cousins
some real, others
of the kissin' type.

Inside, bodies
crammed peeling
and cooking ripe
peaches for jam.

All fevered with
the heat and smells
of each other and
the steaming kitchen.

Sour dispositions
were made affable
by the young ones'
tales of unicorns

and the old ones'
fervent singing:
"Let thy grace
my refuge be..."

It was August
and it was sweet.

A Journey through the Pages is hosting this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.

17 comments:

  1. Yum! What a delicious poem, Diane and that photo is vivid and engaging. I am going to see if I capture it will it fit the dimensions of my summer gallery.

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    1. Glad you like it, Carol. There's nothing better than ripe peaches straight from the tree.

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  2. August is sweet, isn't it? Your yummy poem conjures up so many summer images. I, too, have a small family but have many literary images swarming in my head. -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/

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  3. Love the voice in this one, Diane. And nothing says August like peaches and cousins!

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  4. Delicious use of the words, Diane! My grandfather made peach ice cream in the summer that nothing will be able to top.

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  5. This takes me back to the farmhouse of my childhood and canning season with my mom. It was definitely heat, smells and a steaming kitchen. Beautiful poem for August (I bought peaches on my walk this morning... but not as peachy as the ones in your graphic.)

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  6. Wonderful pairing of words and illustration....juicy and inviting and full of great memory. Love it!

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  7. Yummy! Your poem does make me drool--and want to break out the peach jam in the fridge we made earlier this year.

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  8. This is wonderful. I love all the vivid imagery. I especially liked the "glut of cousins" line.

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  9. Delicious, tender and perfectly peachy!

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  10. I missed the word "thy" in the ending...I will proceed with "Let grace/my refuge be."

    Thanks for a yummy poem...and food for thought and action!

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  11. A coworker of mine comes from a massive family, and when they do their yearly family camping trip they regularly get over 200 people! Wowza! Going to need a lot of peaches! :-)

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  12. Oh, wow - even a sweet poem from you has just enough spice and wit to keep it from being too sweet, Diane - ;0) Delicious.

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  13. Appreciations for bringing some sweetness to this week, Diane.
    And I also love being reminded about Laura Shovan's word lists offered each month for us to stir into poems. xox

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  14. Appreciations for bringing some sweetness to this week, Diane.
    And I also love being reminded about Laura Shovan's word lists offered each month for us to stir into poems. xox

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  15. Rich mix of summer thoughts and aromas. I like these lines in your poem:
    "Sour dispositions
    were made affable"
    and how they were generationally sweetened up by the very young and very old, thanks!

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