Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jone Rush MacCulloch for Roundup.
Yep, it's still National Poetry Month. Yay!
Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem is a still life. It can be a real challenge to write a lively poem after a still life! But. I love lemons. And the morning I was writing this poem I had just blended a giant, seedless lemon into our morning veggie juice (spinach, cucumber, zucchini, lemon). The scent of lemons filled the kitchen!
Savvy readers may recognize this poem is actually a triolet that I have broken into shorter lines and stanzas. (Sometimes I just get bored or the same ol' same ol' presentation!) Thanks so much for reading.
Lemon Poem
Keep a lemon
inside your heart
and all your days
will be golden—
each hour a beehive
of sweet and tart,
if you keep a lemon
inside your heart.
Imagine! Inside you
a tiny, puckered sun!
Zesty, molten—
Keep a lemon
inside your heart
and all your days
will be golden.
- Irene Latham
Wonderful! I'm a lemon lover too. Love that "tiny puckered sun." I also love how this series is introducing me to so many new-to-me Picasso paintings!
ReplyDeleteI love "Zesty, molten--"!
ReplyDeleteGlad for your healthy start to your day! I love each evocative verse. Your descriptions make me want to go visit our two lemon trees & see how many buds are transitioning into tiny green fruits. . Each stanza sharply evokes the senses, but the truth of
ReplyDelete"each hour a beehive / of sweet and tart"
is especially sage, for me. xo at Easter Weekend & always.
This is so fun! Thank you for sharing sunny yellow words.
ReplyDeleteI love lemons, too. Oh, that last stanza!
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of seeing lemons as tiny puckered suns--and they will be for me now.
ReplyDeleteI think studies have shown that the smells of oranges and lemons make the happy bits of our brains light up. Sounds like you were experiencing that while you were writing! I like that beehive of sweet and tart xo
ReplyDeleteYour lemon poem put some joy into my troubled heart. I thank you for your delightful blog and your mail that made me smile during a difficult time period, Irene. I am grateful for your loving gestures.
ReplyDeleteLove this pungent poem and the bit of sweetness tucked in, the flavor moves between poem and art, thanks Irene!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful poem, Irene! I especially love
ReplyDelete... a beehive
of sweet and tart
BTW: in my TeachingAuthors blog post, I celebrate the wonderful anthology you edited with Charles Waters: If I Could Choose a Best Day. I just learned of it recently and am savoring all the wonderful poems!
https://www.teachingauthors.com/2025/04/3-books-for-poetry-month.html
I love this about lemons. I feel like is has a William Carlos Williams feel to it.
ReplyDelete