Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tanita Davis at fiction, instead of lies for Roundup.
I will be on the road today, but I did want to leave a new ArtSpeak: WOMEN poem. This week I've returned to Hilma af Klint. Did you know she did a series of nature studies? MoMA mounted an exhibition of them last year, and I love all the connections Hilma was making! I reallyreallyreally want to acquire this book that accompanied the show. Hilma wrote in her notebook that sunflowers convey "love is the greatest of all." Her certainty led me to write a (love) poem full of questions. Thanks so much for reading!
Just Another (Sun)flower Poem
What (dark) language do seeds speak?
How do they know to reach for sun?(Is the sun singing?)
When rain comes, can a plant
anticipate its drip-drop-drizzle,
or is it always a surprise? (Surprise!)
Which part is the plant most proud of,
its roots or its bloom?
(Don't tell me.)
And what about (green, glistening) leaves,
do they know that blooms exist only
because of leaves' devotion to collecting light?
to stumble upon yellow petals in a field
and smile?
How is it that every time I meet
a sunflower
I (smiling) think of you?
- Irene Latham
p.s. A big fat smiling happy birthday to my (daffodil) sister LTG!!!
Enjoy your travels! What good questions to ask of sunflower. I think sunflowers are just wanting to tell us the answers so bad with their earnestness.
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