Friday, May 23, 2025

Peace poem after Picasso's flowers

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Michelle at More Art 4 All for Roundup.

Whew, it's been a plump and juicy week full of:

1) travel (research trip with Charles for our 2027 picture book!)

2) reading and offering feedback to many wonderful and talented poets

3) book club! (We read Ava's Man by Rick Bragg. Next up: )

4) baking for the Bake Sale that accompanies our community's annual Butt Sale (that's "smoked Boston pork Butts" for the uninitiated!)

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a classic piece of Picasso's art. 

I decided to go with an acrostic, partly as a way to "put my money where my mouth is" and write against my preferences (I'm generally not a fan of the acrostic form) and also because I wanted to force myself to write very sparely on this topic (as it is easy to turn sentimental or fall back on overused language and images). 

This is where I landed. Thanks so much for reading. Wishing you a PEACEFUL Memorial Day weekend!



Peace

Praise the hopeful bouquet—

each bloom plump with rain,

ardent suns spilling brilliant

color—at once an offering

            and also a tender

embrace.

- Irene Latham



11 comments:

  1. An embrace, yes. So lovely, Irene. I am excited for the next couple weeks of planting dahlias. They take a long time to bloom...but wow is it ever worth it. And here's to butt sales. Cracking UP! xoxo

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  2. You worked acrostic magic- allowing yourself that penultimate line ☺️

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  3. As I read your acrostic, I am smelling a wonderful bouquet of flowers given to me by a colleague whose children I taught. It is a hopeful bouquet, given with an embrace.

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  4. Your poem is perfection, beautifully complementing Picasso's peace poem. Thanks for the word bouquet!

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  5. Yes to "The Flowers of Peace," and your lovely "tender

    embrace." Thanks Irene!

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  6. Beautiful, Irene! Love it all, especially the “ardent suns spilling brilliant” line.

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  7. I feel like I just got a hug from you! Thanks!

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  8. Once again, you've introduced me to a new-to-me Picasso. I like the way you worked the form to end on embrace. And what's next up for your book club?

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  9. This is one of my favorites of Picasso's (along with Don Quixote.) For someone who doesn't care for acrostics, you created a beautiful one!

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  10. Butt sale! Hahaha. Now THAT needs a poem. But so does peace, and you did that beautifully!

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Your thoughts?