Walking home from shopping 8/3/18

Gold cherry
Poem of the week

By Di_Hard

Fri, 09 Mar 2018
  • 9156 reads
25 comments
 

You know how, if you find a piece of quartz

on the beach and hold it up to the light

you can see white, cream and amber fractured

bright as the feathers of a fallen angel's wing?

That is how the sky was this evening

facing North leaving the supermarket.

Shadows fold in sealing an envelope

of cool air, clear, fresh, rich with a memory

and a wish for rain from the sea beyond

tabby-stone four storey flats forward right,

out of earshot yet still charging the space

between sparrows' chirrups from a garden

beside the carpark, sounding like children

too bouncy for bed. Black telephone wires -

veins from the stem of a skeleton leaf -

reach into each home bringing outside in.

Tall chimneys on the roof are pale brick, new

but ferns fringe their tops and jackdaws in pairs

are courting on the slate angles and slopes;

they fly off together towards the trees,

landing as if playing a gentle chord

on black notes of a piano, branches

of ash and elm growing along the road

sharp left past the sparrows' flats. Up the hill

seagulls pearl grey wheel wide winged carving time

into slivers of wonder at their grace

or watch, grave and still and wise as judges

from the highest efforts of man made things

their town's fellow inhabitants (earth bound).

A few rooks settle with black pennant wings

in slender beeches of the corner copse

where the footpath's been blocked with wire mesh.

And then song of robins, blackbirds, thrushes

day's treasure thrown into the pooling night

Certificate U
Poem

Comments

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

A beautiful description.

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Philip

 

Submitted by Nolan on

Common beauty. Simple happiness. Exceptional ordinaryness &&

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Very wise, Nolan. There is beauty in every instance of nature, isn't there

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

this reads really well Di - I especially love this line:

Up the hill

seagulls pearl grey wheel wide winged carving time

into slivers of wonder at their grace

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou so much, Insert. I'm glad you liked the seagull bit - I wish they had a better press

thankyou for the cherry too

 

Submitted by Denzella on

Hello Di,

Cor blimey, girl, you don't half see a lot on your way home from shopping.  I could only ever think how heavy the bags were and how my feet were killing me.  However, I much admire your skill in turning a mundane experience into a glorious poem.   A skill that escapes me. Much enjoyed.

Moya

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Denzella, thankyou so much for taking the time to read and comment. I don't know about your poetry skills, but I know you can tell a story, which I cannot, even though I love reading them. Re carrying shopping, it was not that much to carry this time, just cereal and cat biscuits that had not been available because of the snow

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

A dreamy time of day, and you've caught the sights rarely noticed and descibed them in such interesting ways. I felt the quiet of an evening stroll! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Rhiannon, for your comment, it is a dreamy time then, you are right

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Being able to translate into poetry what you are seeing, is such a gift. You have that talent in bucket loads in this poem. I was with you all the way and very much enjoyed reading.

Jenny,

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou for reading and  your kind comment Jenny,

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This beautiful piece of observation is our Poem of the Week and our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day - Congratulations!

Please share/retweet if you liked it too

Picture Credit:  

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou so much ! I'm sorry I've got here so late, it is greatly appreciated

 

Submitted by Pat G on

Beautiful writing.

I love your transition line:

That is how the sky was this evening

facing North leaving the supermarket.

And I love your (correct) punctuation.

 

 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou, Pat. I faffed about for ages with the punctuation :0)

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

A lovely piece of writing Di_Hard. Great observation and craft.

Well done on pick of the week!

Parson Thru

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Parson. It's strange how  you can slip into ten beats a line, isn't it? Maybe something to do with heartbeat?

 

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

Birds, minerals, .tabbystone, buildings, branches, music, light, dark, the sound of children , you make something solid yet mobile and everchanging out of all the pieces, as you walk through it. Lovely.

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thanks Elsie. Hope you have an easy trip back home

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

I love the way you've mashed up the man-made and mundane with nature where there's always something fresh and beautiful when you look for it. Like one of those mixed media collages with bits of plastic and leaf skeletons, feathers and bottle tops....  

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou, Jane. I am still surprised I live by the sea, so it always seems strange and new though we have been here since 2003! I love reading other people's accounts of places, like Parson's wonderful posts and Elsie's brilliant Shifting Sands today. I'm not good about people so just stick with the environment

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Cor, almost autistic, will put that on my C.V. :0)

I don't understand what you mean by cyclical end? Something to tie in with the supermarket at the beginning, like putting away the shopping?

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

gorgeous inservations here, Di_Hard. I’m sometimes to busy thinking about whether or not I’ll make it home before my figers grow too numb toting six six paltic bags of groceries. I like your thinking better.

Rich

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou very much for reading and commenting, Rich :0) Luckily the shop is only 5 minutes' walk away, though a bit of a climb on the way home. But this trip was easy as the supermarket had not fully restocked from when the snow was too deep for the delivery lorry. If there had been  potatoes, milk etc I'd probably not have been looking at the birds!