Thursday, December 14, 2017

Of Poems and Fruit

This special feeling towards fruit, its glory and abundance, is I would say universal. We respond to strawberry fields or cherry orchards with a delight that a cabbage patch or even an elegant vegetable garden cannot provoke. - Jane Grigson



Henri Cornelis Bol was born on 10th January 1945, and was a Dutch still life painter. His work was known for its realism and trompe l'oeil technique.  Bol was born and raised in the Southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant. He was the eldest son of painter Kees Bol. As I was browsing through his artwork I couldn't help but fall in love with the vibrant colors and intricate details. 

For today's challenge, I want you to write a poem about fruit. Not just any ordinary, everyday item on the dining table but your best-loved; the kind that makes your mouth water and pen savor every last detail. 

Persimmons

by Li-Young Lee

... Ripe ones are soft and brown-spotted.
Sniff the bottoms. The sweet one
will be fragrant. How to eat:
put the knife away, lay down newspaper.
Peel the skin tenderly, not to tear the meat.
Chew the skin, suck it,
and swallow. Now, eat
the meat of the fruit,
so sweet,
all of it, to the heart ... read full poem here.

The Consolation of Apricots

by Diane Ackerman

... Somewhere between a peach and a prayer, 
they taste of well water 
and butterscotch and dried apples 
and desert simooms and lust.
Sweet with a twang of spice, 
a ripe apricot is small enough to devour 
as two hemispheres. 
Ambiguity is its hallmark ... read full poem here.


Choose your own form or write in free verse, if preferred. I look forward to reading what you guys come up with. The link doesn't expire, so please feel free to write more than one poem. Please do visit others and remember to comment on their poems. Have fun!


15 comments:

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Happy Thursday, everyone!💞

Angie said...

yummy. too bad my Tuesday poem was about my beloved pomegranates... back to the fruit basket i must go.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Ah, the joy of fruit. I love the two poems given as examples. A good piece of fruit can take you anywhere.

Kim M. Russell said...

Happy Thursday Sanaa and Toads! A delicious prompt - and so hard to choose a fruit. At the moment, I am on a low residue diet, which means no seeds, nuts or fruit skins and I have to peel and chop up apples and pears - or stew them! I am allowed ripe bananas, though. But by far, mangoes, melons and pears are my favourites.

Vivian Zems said...

Hi Sanaa, thank you for hosting. This is a post it published 3 days ago. I think it answers the brief. I can't wait to see the others!

Sanaa Rizvi said...

@A; I loved your Tuesday poem😊 hope you can join us with another💞
@Sherry; Thank you, so glad you enjoyed the poems!💞

@Kim; I adored your poem!😊 I feel like having a pear now!💞
@Vivian; Thank you so much for joining us!😊

brudberg said...

I will think about this... have some hosting tonight on another site... but I think it might be something...

Gillena Cox said...

Yummy, a tasty prompt

much love...

tonispencer said...

Hi Sanaa. I hope this counts as a poem about fruit! If not, feel free to delete it. I will not pout or throw a tantrum! Christmas and New Year blessings to you all.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

@Bjorn; Thank you😊 hope you can join us!💞

@Gillena; Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!💞

@Toni; I loved it!😊 Thanks for posting!💞

brudberg said...

Some small thought on my every day routines.

Magaly Guerrero said...

I'm not adding my bit to the prompt because I wrote a raisin--and it's neither juicy nor pretty. But I wanted to say that I really liked the prompt. Yum-Yum.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

@Bjorn; It was lovely!❤️

@Magaly; Do reconsider?❤️

Magaly Guerrero said...

All right, my sweetest Sanaa, I've added it. :-)

Sanaa Rizvi said...

@Magaly; Cool! Heading over to read!❤️