Friday, February 15, 2013

Sweet Fruit from a Bitter Tree

google image

I walked around the Pond of Swans,
after everyone had gone, 
the underbrush twiggy and bare,
nothing to offer comfort there.
I sought my solace in the sky.
It having no wise words to share,
the more alone was I.

And I am tired
from all the years,
of wandering this vale of tears.                    
Yet still green meadows will I seek,
there to await the sunny morn,
that follows  every season bleak
as it has since I was born.

I ask in turn the star-flung sky:
what and how and when and why?
It has no words to comfort me.
I must become the bitter tree
that bears sweet fruit for all to see,
in hopes they'll thus
remember me.

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Not sure where this little ditty popped up from. 
Dont worry, kids, I'm fine.  Just a bit tired. 

I am linking this to Poets United's Poetry Pantry this Sunday - do stop by. There is always a lot of great reading on Sunday in the Pantry!

60 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful piece, Sherry. It beautifully echoes silent moments of solitude and melancholy... Oh, this is abound with vibrant images!So lovely!
    Take care,

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  2. This little ditty came from a beautiful and giving subconscious that ponders life always. I think this is (for today) my favorite of yours. Hope you get better and better. When I'm fatigued, I don't even write. The fact that you do is testimony to your innate talent.

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  3. I am impressed Sherry! And it does have that classic feel to it. I guess if one must be a bitter tree, it is good to have sweet fruit!

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  4. Sweetly sad and serene, Sherry. Such a beautiful poem...I love the contrasting idea of sweet fruit born from a bitter tree. ♥

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  5. Actually, I said if the form was too much, people could write about an athlete, in any form. But this does have a nice cadence to it.

    Thanks for kind of doing my challenge, Sherry. It really is a nice poem.

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  6. Again, hard words with a rhythm of calm and a steady pace. I love the affirmation that morning arrives always, and even the bitter tree bears fruit worth remembering. I have found tiredness like a betrayer in my own house, but also something each day to get me out of bed on the next one.

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  7. Somehow tiredness is an instigator. It moves things around if one is passionate enough. Very interesting poem Sherry! Very nice flow and a lot of typical happenings which you captured most beautifully. Great!

    Hank

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  8. I must become the bitter tree
    that bears sweet fruit for all to see...

    The paradox of this line struck me immediately, Sherry. It carries such weight and speaks so clearly of the human condition.

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  9. This is a lovely poem. I really enjoyed the second stanza with it's promise of a new day.

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  10. Now it feels as though I unknowingly wrote my second piece for you! "solace"? "Peace? Hmm...see what I mean? ♥
    Have a big, all encompassing Jinksy hug to go with it.

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  11. So lovely, Sherry. So lovely indeed, words fail me.

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  12. gosh, sherry, this is beautiful and sighful and i love its rhythm. xo

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  13. it's.beautiful and sometimes the poems know where they need to be

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  14. Very much like the line that Kerry quoted, and your rhythm here is soft and persuasive that,despite the underlying sadness, a new day follows 'every season bleak.'

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  15. The image you present in this is all too familiar. I just love that last stanza!

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  16. " Yet still green meadows will I seek,
    there to await the sunny morn,
    that follows every season bleak
    as it has since I was born.
    "

    So very true, I think, that green meadows do always arrive after those bleak seasons! Just wait and see!

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  17. I hope these two recent tree poems are as good a medicine for you as they are for me.

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  18. I must become the bitter tree
    that bears sweet fruit for all to see,
    in hopes they'll thus
    remember me.

    This is right up there with the best of the best poets ever. JUST stunningly beautiful!

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  19. You were born to bloom and so you do.

    This sweet fruit feeds me.

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  20. This is a heartstring poem. I hear you. I feel you. What's left of me to reply, your word craft is excellent. I love the cadence as you power through strong emotions, your brilliance as a poet.

    I will forever remember you.

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  21. Great poem Sherry! I love the idea of the bitter tree that bears sweet fruit! I know a tree like that ;D

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  22. Sherry, I'm sorry you're feeling down, and hope that writing such a nice poem cheered you up. Your innate sense of rhythm comes through better than any strict syllable counting!

    I too was told off for sins against the challenge. I thought Real Toads was for poets to have fun, and that's what I did!

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  23. Mi Amiga, I echo the words of Kerry, Lola and Ella.

    I've asked attention, many times, of the Sun, the moon, the stars, the ocean and the wind as extensions of my deity but yet with few reply. My expectations have sharply dwindled but still I welcome those mundane embraces from family and friends.
    To you, mi Amiga, I send you one. :-)

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  24. Sherry- you have captured something very Housman-like here - it has that elegiac music. It works wonderfully. We all feel a bit down, I think, in February. k.

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  25. Beautifully expressed. All the more so for its melancholy. Brighter days will soon be here :-)

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  26. Awesome choice on the rhyme scheme. This ended up being very introspective for me, as legacy and behavior became considered.

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  27. unlike the sky in this poem, u r never short of wise words for us and we are grateful for that.take care Sherry.

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  28. Absolutely love that last stanza. The flow and cadence to this write is beautiful.

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  29. Oh, my goodness. This is so powerful it brings tears, Sherry. I feel that searching for answers and find there are none. I feel the aloneness and I understand.

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  30. Such a powerful poem, so understand the search for answers and often there just aren't any. Another beautiful write!

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  31. Wonderful poem Sherry, wise words to ponder.

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  32. The bitter tree that bears sweet fruit - that is the challenge of aging. What a poem, Sherry! Bravo! It seems to have come from a time long ago -- eternal theme.

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  33. So touching, Sherry....and glad that you're ok. Oh, I've asked those same questions to the sky. I can so relate to this one...seems I'm not the most chipper of people..that vale of tears and season's bleak seem to be my path too.
    Gayle xoxo

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  34. I too have asked such questions ~ I think sometimes we have to look beyond the quiet sky to get our peace ~ I wish you a fruitful weekend ~

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  35. Great form and what poet hasn't wistfully beseeched the stars for a sign, awesome use of words.

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  36. loved the rhythm of this very elegant piece of work. :)

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  37. I'm sure your fruit will be sweet indeed! I love the rhythm of this poem. Delightful!

    Whirling with Gary Soto

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  38. nice little rif from the Psalms -

    the vale of tears does make one tired, that is why I wear these monk robes

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  39. The hope for comfort.. the wish to be remembered for one's deeds.. wonderfully expressed...

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  40. The hope for comfort.. the wish to be remembered for one's deeds.. wonderfully expressed...

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  41. I too loved these lines

    I must become the bitter tree
    that bears sweet fruit for all to see...

    There is wisdom and truth here--wonderful write Sherry!

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  42. the contrasts here between sadness and hope gives this poem ...well, hope for readers.

    "I must become the bitter tree
    that bears sweet fruit for all to see'...lovely line here.

    strong rhythm.

    Sometimes I feel just like this, especially when one puts so much effort into your verse and it falls flat with readers. but! even though that happens...and it's damn depressing...you do continue on because you really have no other way to go.

    Lady Nyo

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  43. A wonderful piece! So much to love...sometimes we don't know where the gifts come from...but you deserve this one! I love it!

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  44. Sherry,

    It was indeed a rather lilting ditty. Uplifting, but with an undercurrent of sadness...I think it is a seasonal thing, as we leave the winter blues behind and seek to see spring and more energetic times ahead.
    All my good wishes to you Sherry for the week ahead. In my thoughts.
    Happy Sunday,
    Eileen

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  45. This has such lovely form and contains age-old unanswered questions. Really lovely. Maybe a favorite of mine!

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  46. We all have moments like this, and your poem reminded me of some very personal experiences. Thank you for always being true to you, and lots of hugs. You deserve every one of them.

    Elizabeth

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  47. This poem reminds me of Mary, which coincidentally means bitter in Hebrew

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  48. Profound...verses laced with solitude!

    Akila

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  49. universal emotion that most of us feel at times - enjoyed reading it - cathartic in a way

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  50. the bitter tree bearing sweet fruit for all to see... what better legacy?

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  51. This is so beautiful, Sherry. I hope you're feeling better.

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  52. Sherry, a beautiful poem--the melancholy mixed with hope. And the rhyming really flowed. Excellent write! Hope you are feeling better soon. Hugs :-)

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  53. Peace, my sweet friend. You have given me so much to bring sunshine in my days.

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  55. depressing waves vibrates here but there is hope around...enjoyed the read..

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  56. Putting a brave face on aloneness, with the sweet fruit. Good description of melancholy.

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  57. Sherry this is so very real and heart-soul felt.

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  58. This reads like one of those 'wholly given' pieces that seem to pop up from nowhere. The Unconscious is mysterious and powerful! But I think we have to put in all the work we do on our craft before this can happen. :)

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