Tuesday 12 August 2014

POETRY JAM - ALMONDS


“Try to keep your soul young and quivering right up to old age.” - George Sand

Poetry Jam has given its followers the theme of “Almonds” this week. This is quite appropriate for us in the Southern Hemisphere, as the almond trees have blossomed exuberantly this week – remembering that our August is the wintry equivalent of February in the North. The rashness of the almond tree, blooming in what is effectively still Winter, is proverbial. And yet, the tree flowers and sets fruit, yielding a crop of delicious nuts…

Almond Blossom

In Winter’s last throes, when snow and sleet still fall,
When icy winds shake the bare and thorny branches,
The almond tree breaks out in full bloom –
Defiantly, or foolishly perhaps,
Its candid blossoms, as if of snow fashioned.

When shivering passers-by, chance beneath the tree
The petals fall, like fragrant snowflakes,
Covering woollens and Winter hats with blossom;
There’s hope promised and a quickening of the blood,
With hints of Spring in frozen atmosphere expressed.

As years weigh heavily on my bent shoulders,
And as my skin wrinkles every day even more deeply,
My heart thrills and beats a little faster –
Defiantly, or foolishly perhaps,
Its pulse intense and strong, as if I were an adolescent.

When passers-by see my smiling face, they smile back,
Unknowingly, my mood proving contagious
And making them glow with unexplained elation;
There’s hope promised and a quickening of the blood,
With hints of love, even in hardened arteries felt.

15 comments:

  1. like fragrant snow....makes me think of the cherry blossom trees here...i love to stand in the rain of their petals....and it does give hope...the new life...the cycles....knowing ours too will turn....

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  2. beautiful sketch of the almond tree breaking out in happiness and infusing life into others...

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  3. I like the hints of love in the hardened arteries and the wrinkly old skin. ( Chortles)
    Don't believe a word of it.:) Another visual delight, warm heartfelt verse from a person who knows how to enjoy his life.

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  4. Oh, I love this! The metaphor of the blossoming almond tree in winter works so well for love happening again in old age... Winter and the almond tree complements old age and love beautifully. The device of the repeated lines in the second half is successful too.

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  5. Brilliant! I really like the form you have used, it’s like a fugue in poetry :-)

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  6. Ah, like the almond tree as a symbol of hope.....that even if the winter may be cold and dark, the almond's blossoms give hope that spring will come again. I also like the way you portrayed the persistence of the tree...continuing on despite adversity....spreading its hope to all who come upon it.

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  7. Great use of the almond tree as a metaphor for strength and persistence. "The almond tree breaks out in full bloom – / Defiantly, or foolishly perhaps" - for some reason these are my favorite lines. I guess I like the idea of being defiant.

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  8. I love the idea of a defiant tree.

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  9. Really captures the heart of hope, that promise of a new life and new fruit, Really makes you think and hope.

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  10. I was distracted at first with the thought that the almond tree blossoms in weather we would have in February...but I guess not HERE in February. Nothing can be seen in the banks of snow, so it must be more south of Maine! It does look like the cherry blossoms they have in the more southern climes.
    Anyway, when I got back from my musings... "defiantly or foolishly" blossoming... I loved the poem and the way the almond blossoms still give a quickening pulse.

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  11. I never thought of the almond tree as having magic ... after reading your poem, I know it does.

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  12. Just as the almond blooms in wintertime, so the heart loves in old age. Wonderful!

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  13. beautiful ..the way you have created the picture of almond tree with hope and infusing life..

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  14. It does seem early for almond blossoms in the Southern hemisphere. I enjoyed this and the photo is lovely.

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  15. A delightful poem, Nicholas. I like the idea of old hearts thrilling to new love, just as the almond tree blooms in winter...

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