(Mayberrie poem – revised)
.
She’d waited long enough.
The time had come
to clear the near forgotten room
he’d carved into the earth.
Ancient harvests deep inside
would long be in decay.
She braced herself
and slow approached
the thick, elm door
(and later swore it opened of
its own accord).
.
In the shaft of light
that followed her
she was struck with wonder.
Instead of baskets
filled with crops
long gone to rot
there was the scent of quickening:
potatoes
with their eyes still wide,
beets the color of her heart,
carrots orange and smooth,
and onions with their papery skins
like pages of old memories.
.
On the side were apples –
barrels of them, red and crisp
(she took a bite and begged forgive!)
.
How could this be,
a place outside of time?
In haste she left
and sealed the door.
There would be no clearing out
(except for one sweet apple
which she secreted away).
.
© 2009, 2016 Betty Hayes Albright
.
A most magical tale is spun within these lines…enjoyed it much.
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Glad you enjoyed it, Charlie!
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I like the beets and onion skins etc., very good, Betty and potatoes with eyes wide 🙂
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Thanks, Martin! 😀
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Very magical! taken from that “other world”! just beautiful! love, Linda
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Linda, thank you, glad you liked! 🙂
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Betty, I love your Mayberrie poems! I found this line so deliciously wonderful:
“(she took a bite and begged forgive!)” – it is laced with her character; so charming. 🙂
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Yes, she does have her weaknesses, lol! Thank you, Angela. 🙂
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Oh Wow, Betty–as always, you leave me hanging on the edge, wanting more!
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Thanks Caddo – I’m never sure what’s coming next, but will try not to keep you hanging too long, lol!
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Amazing metaphor here for love that never withers, never rots, never dies! Wonderful root cellar at the base of her heart!
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Thanks, Granbee – for seeing through to the metaphor (as you always do! 🙂 )
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Betty Hayes Albright, if I could gather the stars up in a basket and fling them through the heavens, I would do so in celebration of Mayberrie. If I could find this cellar, which reminds me of my Grandmother’s cellar in Delta, Colorado when I was a very young boy which always had the smell of apples and potatoes with their eyes open, I would walk into it and feel the wonder of a place outside of time that is eternal. If I was a moon thinking about a land far away in time, I would shine upon the remnants of all the events and moments that pile up in Mayberrie and leave readers wondering, wondering, wondering…what does this mean? What is this really about? O, is this a poem!
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Thomas – thank you for your inspiring comment! (I’d like to hear more about your grandmother’s cellar, maybe as a poem? What a pleasant memory that must be – and nostalgic!)
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Your poem is so very discriptive of past moments remembered and yet found anew in the apples…finding a quick taste again. Beautifully written…i enjoyed it much!
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Thank you again, Wendell, for your generous comments!
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You are so beautiifully inventively descriptive, Betty, especially here…
‘the scent of quickening:
potatoes
with their eyes still wide,
beets the color of her heart,
carrots orange and smooth,
and onions with their papery skins
like pages in beloved books.’
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Diane, I appreciate your comments so much!!
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Betty, I love this one, again, one of my favorites! And this verse is enchanting:
there was the scent of quickening:
potatoes
with their eyes still wide,
beets the color of her heart,
carrots orange and smooth,
and onions with their papery skins
like pages in beloved books.
Your words take the reader into a magical, delightful place~ xx
.
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Thanks so much, Lauren!
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You create flavorful aromas and other magic in Mayberrie. Thanks for this special ride through your mind…
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The pick of Ben Naga’s Newly Discovered Beauties for May 2012.
http://bennaga.wordpress.com/the-pick-of-this-months-newly-discovered-poems/#comment-3834
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