I. Late Spring
On the warm soft soil
I lay, pale pumpkin seed
By garden’s edge – I bloom
Orange cheeks, bee stung lips
II. Mid-Summer
I thirst for rain and sun
To drench dry olive skin
Bend me over several times
Growing round and long vines
III. Early Autumn
Fragrant, ripe - you pluck me
Peeling layers to taste cream
With sweetness of golden pears-
You come like swooning leaf
Iv. Winter night
Hold the core of me
Dry and cold, sealed envelope
Amidst white landscape, I sleep
Dreaming of spring -- and you
Posted for: D'verse Poets Pub - Its About Time - I made pumpkin soup with Bosc pears - heavenly ~ and Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Sunday's Challenge - Chinese poetry form is Jue-ju
Lines per stanza: 4
Theme: Often suggestive of erotic love
Rhyme scheme: couplets or unrhymed
Picture credit: here
Lovely, Grace! You have worked the two prompts well. And I like the last stanza the best, as I am already dreaming of spring!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary for the wonderful prompt ~
DeleteThere's something so enchanting with poetry through different seasons. It puts everything in perspective.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ben, I am enjoying autumn now ~
DeleteI love the ending of Winter "dreaming of Spring and you," I couldn't find a more beautiful, poignant line that describes the Winter blues as that one does, like Mary says you've done amazing with the prompts, I love this from start to finish, it's a simple concept but you do it in such a tantalising way you can't help but adore it.
ReplyDeleteYou are lovely to say that ~ Thanks for your visit and encouragement ~
DeleteOooo... I never used to like pumpkin at all til Chloe persuaded me to buy a pumpkin pie/tart and I saw it had cinnamon in it. Love cinnamon. So, bought one and some fresh whipped cream now.... YUM!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteYou made this sound so delicious grace, looks it too. Lovely poem .
I never like it before too...but you must try it with bosc pears---the combination is perfect ~ Thanks for the visit Bren ~
DeleteGrace, this is beautiful, and elegantly drawn. Love the suggestivity in here. Gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan ~ The form made it easier for me ~
Deletea delightful poem, my dear, and that photo looks naughtily suggestive to me, for some reason :)
ReplyDeleteIt does, he..he... :-)
DeleteA trip through the seasons. Very nice. And the last line reset the entire tone. I enjoyed a great reread. Great mind.
ReplyDeleteThank you Henry ~ I thought the use of the season is a good way to show the passage of time ~
Deletenice...elegant is a good word for it...love how you use the pears in this, personifying...and the feel as well as you draw this to a close...there is a warm longing....
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely words Brian ~ I appreciate them ~
Deletethis is so lovely. great words, loved the last two lines...
ReplyDeleteThank you ~
DeleteThese are really lovely--and I love how you have put the whole thing together!
ReplyDeleteThis is great... and hot, I think.
ReplyDeleteI love the evolution through the seasons.......very nice.
ReplyDeleteTook us through all the stages, nice how you went the pumpkin route, really goes well with the theme and month.
ReplyDeleteLovely write, Grace! I love the use of the plant persona. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteAh, just another reason to love the pumpkin!
ReplyDeleteWell done,
Very cool and creative take on the Time prompt!
ReplyDeleteVery very nice.
ReplyDeleteHi Heaven. Great to have you joining our challenge with a poem which works so well for more than one prompt! I loved the way you used seasons to show the growth of a pumpkin. There's probably a lot more to it - buried too deep for me to see (ha ha). However, I enjoyed it on the level I can 'get' it. Happy Halloween! :D
ReplyDeleteHi Denise,
DeleteThank you. But my post for RFW's challenge is here:
http://a-sweetlust.blogspot.ca/2012/10/weeping-willow-complete-this-is-long.html
wow! i've never thought of pumpkins as sensuous before! great take on the prompts, Heaven!
ReplyDeletehave a lovely Sunday!
♥
Wow! Beautiful...how clever to work both prompts into one.
ReplyDeleteI love that your story is told through the warmth of a seed. Love the reproductive theme also. Great image as well, wholesome and autumn. I love this season. Your soup sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteOne would imagine you had been writing this form all your life, Heaven. I think you have truly captured here what was intended in the Midnight Song. It is so exciting for me to read work of this calibre on your blog. You never disappoint.
ReplyDeletenice..i like that you took the pumpkin to draw the picture of the life cycle..the seasons we all go through..
ReplyDeletei love how this poem moved.
ReplyDeletenice grace. very!
Fresh and warm and nice...next time I will add pears to the pumpkin soup!
ReplyDeleteLovely fruit...and not just what's on the tree!
ReplyDeleteA fresh and very original take on the prompt which I enjoyed immensely.
ReplyDeleteSo nice... and flowed so beautifully and takes in all the seasons of our lives.
ReplyDeleteyum!
ReplyDeleteI love this style of poetry, Heaven. That soup looks and sounds delicious too. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow
ReplyDeleteI now have a new appreciation for the cycle of pumpkins.
Mid~summer n autumn sound especially delicious!
Good stuff, you
Have a great sunday, Grace
Seasons division works great.
ReplyDeleteGorgeously delicious poem - loved the changing seasons - K
ReplyDeleteYes, the use of seasons is great... you can even make being a pumpkin sound sexy in her plump season... This is a clever response to the prompt.
ReplyDeleteGrace, this is just gorgeous...sensual, tempting. And the idea of pumpkin with Bosc pear sounds just scrumptious.
ReplyDeleteGrace, This is an amazing accomplishment. Your words are heavenly, evoking scents and scenes as vivid as my desert day. The fact that you did this while adhering to form and additional prompts takes this final product over the top.
ReplyDeleteReally strong and rich imagery here - I wish I'd gone out in the garden more often when younger, instead of sitting at my PC!
ReplyDeleteI love this, Grace, and the last line is so perfect.
ReplyDeleteK
Nice analogy! And the seasons are a fantastic choice.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the rich images in this poem, so sensual. Especially loved the walk through the seasons too. Beautiful on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing! I love the way your pumpkin journeys through the seasons.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe cyclical nature is so well expressed.
this is sweet and lovely... it's simply beautiful especially the rich imagery you have created. :)
ReplyDeleteI thirst for rain and sun
ReplyDeleteTo drench dry olive skin...
Lovely imagery throughout, Grace....such magic of each season captured. So beautiful!
Four seasons ... Vivaldi would be impressed, I know I am!!
ReplyDeleteWow. This is incredible.
ReplyDeleteVery graceful. I actually dreamt of winter nights this morning, so I like to imagine the ending of your poem was (somehow) for me. I love how you integrate so delicately love and erotism into your poems.
ReplyDeletechange is ever present here in this delicate and earthy poem. I love seasonal poems.
ReplyDeleteVery nice, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat tour of the seasons with your typical fresh imagery, loved the first stanza, brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI love how this is broken up in stages.
ReplyDeleteThis form is accommodating enough to try it, might try it myself. Lovely verse you made of it, Heaven. Suggests erotic 'mature love', I think.
ReplyDeleteJust lovely - you use the jueje form so well here and very sensually too. k.
ReplyDelete