depictions by the rule of thirds; descriptions mostly freestyle words
The sky grey-lagged
Feathered clouds in flight northward
Spat serious intent. A weather warning
Not wide enough of some wild blackberries
– But still I contested, and still the bee
Bumbled over late pink blooms.
My fingers too inched gingerly between briars
A purple-stained greed that ran with rain.
I hurried on the showerproof hood
heading homeward, head bent
with torrents timpaning a resolute beat
on blue-black plastic.
Couples clustering under umbrellas
Puddle-jumped in conversation,
Bedraggled dogs aborted walks
Bubble-wrapped prams and pushchairs wove
Wheelie patterns on the pavement. All this I saw
Before I reached the door, sodden
But home from the harvest.
Title gives a nod to Dylan & and I'm dropping in to the poets pub where Grace is hosting Open Link Night
I would love to have some blackberries to harvest… wouldn’t mind some rain actually as long as I could capture such a treasure. We picked a lot of blueberries this summer, but our cellar can take more jam I think.
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Beautifully composed!
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thank you Lucy
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This is incredibly gorgeous, Laura! 💜 I especially admire the second stanza with its fresh and captivating imagery; “My fingers too inched gingerly between briars/A purple-stained greed that ran with rain.” Wow! You have me yearning for some blackberries as well! 🙂
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thanks for your appreciation Sanaa – and for picking that purple rain line 🙂
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Wow, I love the energy, hard intent of that rain and word compound Laura. Good harvest for you.
There are favorite parts:
The sky grew grey-lagged
A purple-stained greed that ran with rain.
Puddle-jumped in conversation,
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thanks for hosting Grace – those picture lines sum up the brief pictures seen between lashings of raindrops
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Great cloud and weather images. Loved us contesting and the bee bumbling over the last of the flower blooms. Too bad you got wet!! Love it!!
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Getting wet, getting scratched, getting stung on nettles that grow round the bushes all part of the blackberry harvest ‘fun’
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I can see how that would happen! :>)
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I climbed inside this poem and wrapped it around me, Laura; it reminded me of blackberry picking with my daughter and grandson at the beginning of August. We have some big, shiny blackberries on the brambles by our front window – I must pick them. The grey-lagged sky with feathered clouds is like the one I photographed this morning, which is now clearing up, so no serious intent spitting yet today! I love the phrase ‘purple-stained greed that ran with rain’ and the alliterative and rhythmic ‘torrents timpaning a resolute beat on blue-black plastic’. The final stanza is a word painting of a perfect rainy day.
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thank you Kim for wrapping your feedback so beautifully in blackberry rain
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Evokes such vivid images of everything you describe! What we call ‘Kopfkino’ (head cinema) in German 🙂
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Many thanks for that Kiki – What a very vivid word combination- says it all!
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This is artfully composed, sonorous and smooth in the sweetness of blackberry-picking, all the while stressed by impending storm. Two worlds intersecting in the speaker, who defiantly savors one world while another threatens. Well done. – Brendan
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Beautifully observed as always Brendan – Especially liked your observation of 2 worlds
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“A purple-stained greed that ran with rain.” – wonderful.
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My favourite line – thank you –
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A lovely poem–I can imagine this “rainy day woman” determined in her blackberry picking despite the weather, while observing it all around her. For some reason, I liked the couples who
” clustering under umbrellas
Puddle-jumped in conversation.” And then the sound of all those b and p words.
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you have captured the feeling I aimed to convey so well Merrill – now I can see what you mean about those b/p sounds – subconsciously summoned the rain there!
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Yes! 😀
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Sounds like a wonderful day, artfully rendered.
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not entirely wonderful though the taste of wild blackberries worth the rainy day
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Ah, I love rainy days and nights! 🙂
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Brought back many memories of blackberry picking and “purple stained greed.” Wonderful word artistry! Thoroughly enjoyed the read, Rainy Day Woman. 🙏
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thank you Mother Wintermoon!
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A delicious write in spite of wet harvest conditions, Laura!
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thank you Lynn – delicious such a good word!
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