Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Tracey Kiff-Judson Here. Thank you, Tracey for hosting! Make sure to pay Tracey’s blog a visit to see what she is sharing this week.
Yesterday, as I was at a coffee shop musing over what to share this week, and also recovering from reading the ongoing news of world events, my friend Catherine showed up with a bouquet of peonies for me. I was thrilled and grateful for her generosity and friendship.
Here they sit on my porch.
PEONY BOUQUET
My friend gave me flowers
she was thinking of me
in early afternoon hours.
My friend gave me flowers
from her backyard bower,
(Also one stubborn ant--but no bees.)
My friend gave me flowers,
she was thinking of me.
© Janice Scully 2024
Many poems are inspired by nature. Sarojini Baidu, was an Indian woman activist and poet (1879-1949). I might have learned of her from a Poetry Friday post, though I don’t recall who introduced me to her poem, JUNE SUNSET. The poem celebrates nature through images that seem so fresh. Here is the first stanza:
JUNE SUNSET
by Sarojini Baidu
Here shall my heart find its haven of calm,
By rush-fringed rivers and rain-fed streams
That glimmer thro’ meadows of lily and palm.
Here shall my soul find its true repose
Under a sunset sky of dreams
Diaphanous, amber and rose.
The air is aglow with the glint and whirl
Of swift wild wings in their homeward flight,
Sapphire, emerald, topaz, and pearl.
Afloat in the evening light.
READ THE REST HERE.
Such amazing words: Rush-fringed rivers, meadows of Lily and palm, dreams, diaphanous, amber, rose, sapphire, emerald, topaz, pearl.
The first line inspired this golden shovel poem.
IN BLOSSOMING NATURE,
A golden shovel poem
“HERE SHALL MY HEART FIND ITS HAVEN OF CALM” Sarojini Naidu
In blossoming nature—here
you shall,
I hope, understand where my
wintering heart
awakes. In May, we find
Peonies and roses. Spring! It’s
a pop-up world, a haven,
of petals white and pink, full of
new but ancient calm.
©Janice Scully 2024
I can’t think of any better way to find joy, than to experience first hand nature and its beauty. That’s why friends bring flowers.
Thank you, Tracy, for hosting, and readers for reading.
I will be away from my computer for the next month, but hope to check in with PF when I can. I plan to take some more pictures like this one below:
Blue Morning Glories, Pacifica California