Birthday Asters
We took my aunt some asters for her birthday –
small purple stars. I could not bring a plant
she wouldn’t know the name of after all.
A fretful day. A man washed down a horse
as we drove by, down Mile 2 West. The crops
pressed through the soil – the sugarcane, the sorghum,
the dark-leaved citrus orchards she so loved.
We gazed across the working fields. And when
we reached her columbarium, beneath
a dead sky, we set asters at its foot.
Birthday Asters
Hi Phil,
Glad you enjoyed it! yes, this is about 5-10 miles from the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. It's where my aunt is buried. A fretful day - it was, somehow, though there was an overriding peace to the whole outing.
Cheers,
John
Glad you enjoyed it! yes, this is about 5-10 miles from the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. It's where my aunt is buried. A fretful day - it was, somehow, though there was an overriding peace to the whole outing.
Cheers,
John
Ooh yes, the birthday asters, John. We remember this one too; we enjoyed reading it, and we still do. As before, through S1 we have the impression of a regular visit, but 'fretful' hints at something else. Moreover, the details of the horse and, especially, the living crops, seem significant, laying a trail. And then, 'loved', of course. The ending is poignant, yet the thought that your aunt would know the plant imbues a hint of hope. With that in mind, we wonder at 'dead sky', but that is all for now (*v*)
Cheerie,
F & (^v^)
Cheerie,
F & (^v^)
Greetings, Fliss and Coo!
You have i think perfectly caught the tone of this poem, which is still, but fretful. Loved does kind of give the game away - a columbarium is one of those walls in which loved ones' ashes are placed. It means of course a dovecote in Latin, and one can see why. So yes, dead sky, but there is indeed a hint of hpe to the piece, not least in the bringing of asters on her birthday. At least, the poem suggests that to me.
Cheerie,
John
You have i think perfectly caught the tone of this poem, which is still, but fretful. Loved does kind of give the game away - a columbarium is one of those walls in which loved ones' ashes are placed. It means of course a dovecote in Latin, and one can see why. So yes, dead sky, but there is indeed a hint of hpe to the piece, not least in the bringing of asters on her birthday. At least, the poem suggests that to me.
Cheerie,
John
Greetings, John!jisbell00 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2023 8:16 pmGreetings, Fliss and Coo!
You have i think perfectly caught the tone of this poem, which is still, but fretful. Loved does kind of give the game away - a columbarium is one of those walls in which loved ones' ashes are placed. It means of course a dovecote in Latin, and one can see why. So yes, dead sky, but there is indeed a hint of hpe to the piece, not least in the bringing of asters on her birthday. At least, the poem suggests that to me.
Cheerie,
John
We're happy to have caught the tone. We remember looking up 'columbarium' on first reading the poem. I don't think we've seen one before, but we've viewed a few dovecotes in our time (^v^)
Cheerie,
F & (^v^)
(^v^)