Blueberry Pie

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My dad and I have
blueberry pie on Sunday
afternoons

we meet in the lobby
of Chateau Marmont
and intertwine our
lanky arms to form
a pretzel-shaped hug

we won’t get much
closer than that
not in words or touch
or breath and I do admit,
I desire
sometimes
to tell him –

he kisses hello
a needle-thin blonde
who plucks a blueberry from my plate
and my eyes escape the ruinous
site of broken pastry
and stolen fruit but
outside is even less
promising as the
afternoon drizzle
drips down
like a runny nose

and as I do
after every Sunday
I light up, smoke up
and tell myself to
shut up as I patch together
a father of sorts, from these
blueberry afternoons

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Comments

skinner_jennifer | August 22, 2011 - 21:21

Wonderful poem maggy, now I really have the taste
for blueberry pie, one of my favourite fruits, well
that and cherries.

Keep writing, you have a great talant.

Jenny.

maggyvaneijk | August 22, 2011 - 21:22

Thanks Jenny, I love blueberry pie! I recently saw the film "My Blueberry Nights" you might like it, there's lots of yummy shots :)

celticman | August 22, 2011 - 23:37

Sometimes you do deep meaningful poems and sometimes you do little light fluffies. I think this is the latter. Pretzel-shaped hugs. Wonderful.

maggyvaneijk | August 23, 2011 - 00:08

thanks c-man!

Highhat | August 23, 2011 - 04:36

I saw "Blueberry Pie" not long ago- far from this father-daughter relationship but just as philosophical. I agree with Celtic that this is a lovely light one. An enojyable read Maggie- thoroughly

;)Pia

Silver Spun Sand | August 23, 2011 - 08:59

Lost for words, maggy. A gem;-)

Tina

oldpesky | August 23, 2011 - 13:24

Hi maggy, to expand on what Richard was saying, I think that the daughter getting a half-hearted hug, while the 'other woman' gets a kiss and steals a piece of the daughter's blueberry pie highlights the fact that she is Daddy's little girl now. Maybe that's just my strange way of seeing things at the moment.

MistakenMagic | August 23, 2011 - 13:51

Stunning, Maggy. Love that fourth stanza! Some really lovely images in this one :)

Magic xxx

maggyvaneijk | August 23, 2011 - 14:05

Thanks everyone, both OP and Richard, you got it

the unfolding head | August 23, 2011 - 15:54

another great read, particularly like the ending

Cavalcaderl | August 23, 2011 - 16:43

new Maggyvaneijk
Hi! A great poem, supremely
told and a message too, it is
often the way, with daughter's
mainly form of protection.
Well deserved cherry!
They say Blueberry is good for the sight,
never tried blueberries yet.
Love the stanza;
outside is even less
promising as the
afternoon drizzle
drips down
like a runny nose.
Hope weather ugh! improved.
julie xx

Overthetop1 | August 23, 2011 - 18:14

A perfect capsule of a poem. Fathers and daughters. A complicated and emotive subject on which you make many insightful observations. Blueberries are `superfood' aren't they. I have no idea why I just added that. It's my kooky brain. I know you'll understand.

barryj1 | August 23, 2011 - 18:39

celticman says

Sometimes you do deep meaningful poems and sometimes you do little light fluffies. I think this is the latter. Pretzel-shaped hugs. Wonderful.

Highhat agrees with celticman, but I don't. I think the poem works equally as well at both levels. There is a certain synergy at work here and the reader (i.e. that's me, among others) can take a poem like this anywhere he so choses.

What I liked best, though, was that you totally caught me unawares. I could not see where the narrative was going. The slice-of-life vignette in Blueberry Pie has an originality that is neither forced nor contrived. Okay, now I'm perseverating, which is what old people and patients on locked wards suffering from Korsakov's syndrome do, so I'll shut up.

shoe | August 23, 2011 - 18:55

Some charming images, I like the drizzle like a runny nose!:} But there is sub-text too delicately woven in,
Beautifully done.

maggyvaneijk | August 23, 2011 - 18:55

thank you :)

barryj1 | August 23, 2011 - 19:43

One more thing: this would have to be one of my favorite 'Maggy' poems. The unassuming language taken aside, it offers an incredibly clever metaphor (or is it an allegory?) expressing daughterly ambivalence tempered with love, regret, devotion, bitterness - a veritable kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions. You didn't just get the colors here but all the subtle shades and nuances of gray as well.

maggyvaneijk | August 23, 2011 - 20:35

Barry, thank you.

hudsonmoon | August 23, 2011 - 21:40

Love the last bit the best, Maggy. It touched a nerve.

Rich

barryj1 | August 23, 2011 - 22:46

I'm sorry but I'm still not through.

I told my wife about your amazing poem, Blueberry Pie and she, too, wanted to read it. My wife says this is definitely 'poem of the week' material. She writes non-fiction, mostly medical-oriented books.

maggyvaneijk | August 24, 2011 - 00:46

Send my thanks to your wife Barry, must be handy having a medical-orientated lady! And Richard, I think you're referring to Tinker Bell :)

seashore | August 24, 2011 - 08:22

A poem that says so much in your inimitable original way. Brilliant as usual.

maggyvaneijk | August 24, 2011 - 20:39

no way! Look at you, did you meet Juergen Teller? I first encountered Marmont in the film Somewhere. Seems like a fascinating place.

tcook | August 25, 2011 - 16:53

This is our Facebook and Twitter pick of the day.

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Get a great reading recommendation most days.

skinner_jennifer | August 25, 2011 - 17:48

And really well deserved too.

Jenny.

sue dinum | August 25, 2011 - 22:24

Hi maggy , just caught this. I think just about everything's been said, but just wanted to say I love the simplicity in this, the way you put things is just great.

sue

barryj1 | August 26, 2011 - 17:09

One final thing I forgot to mention and then no more: This poem-of-the-week gem is a far better piece of writing than appears at first glance, which may sound like a backhand compliment but is not meant as such.

Despite the compact space, the imagery is so rich and variagated in terms of what the poem doesn't say that serious readers are left contemplating the encounter between father and daughter days later.

Geertje Jong | August 30, 2011 - 16:33

Hi Maggy, nog een hollander? jaha..hoop alleen dat je de taal ook leest en spreekt want anders is dit allemaal gobblediegook...
Absolutely loved the father poem...and the pretzel shaped hug..priceless!!!
Groen grutjes van Geertje

maggyvaneijk | August 31, 2011 - 10:43

Ben nog steeds Hollands dus het is geen gobblediegook gelukkig :) bedankt voor de complimenten!

RachelPatricia | September 1, 2011 - 11:22

A little late to the party, but wow - what a party it is!

Another wonderful poem, Maggy - many, many congrats on POW, this is deliciously good :)

Rachel xx

mark_yelland-brown | September 2, 2011 - 19:11

Blueberry afternoons...squelchingly beautiful!

You've managed to convey in that last line so much...from a berry...
cause it's blue you idiot!!
I know!
Wonderful poem!

maggyvaneijk | September 2, 2011 - 19:12

Thanks Mark :)

Glummo | September 3, 2011 - 10:12

ahhh how nice

kirincnj | October 25, 2011 - 08:45

This is gorgeous. I cannot get enough of your work.