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Spring Fruit

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I would love some feedback on format and meaning on this piece I've just completed. Thanks for any contributions you may make. Graham.
 

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime,

Winter bleaches the tree bones dry, starved scarecrows against the sky.

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime,

First the leaves and blossoming flowers, then bees and sweet April showers.

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime,

Then golden rays begin to nurse, plates of green and spore in purse.

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime,

Wait till the boughs are full laden, swollen like an enceinte maiden,

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime,

When bountiful crops are then set, you may harvest without regret.

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime.

Take care of your yield while it grows, soft flesh cuts, scars when cold winds blow,

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime.

Shield tender roots from ice and frost, canker bears a terrible cost,

There’s no fruit to be picked in springtime.

Though seeds bear trees and trees bear seeds, mighty oaks may be choked by weeds.

🌷(4)

◄ Still here

A bowler's lament ►

Comments

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Ferris Ty Taylor

Tue 20th Apr 2021 17:55

Omg! Thats amazing thank you for that anecdote. Always love to meet a fellow appreciator. I've been comically obsessed with GP from an early age. I've seen him 3 times. Every year I find new reasons to love his stuff.
The best track on the parkerilla imo is heat in harlem. Sensational. Whats yours?

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Graham Parker

Tue 20th Apr 2021 17:40

Thanks Ferris, I have been listening to the Parkerilla since my teens, and saw him live a few years back. Bodnar once accused me of being an imposter!

Hi Aviva, thanks for taking the time to respond and for all of your comments. You rightly identified my metaphor and it is one I tried to make cyclical. Damage done to our historic trees can still sit deep in the roots. with the pains being borne by the trees fruits, who in turn may pass it on from their own seeds.

The image I found after the writing, which was inspired by events that are still unfurling in my family.

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Ferris Ty Taylor

Tue 20th Apr 2021 16:03

Graham Parker is my all time favourite singer and I met Brinsley Schwarz and he gave me guitar advice.
Also, nice poem!

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Aviva Rifka Bhandari

Tue 20th Apr 2021 10:07

Although it serves just as well as a horticultural or nature poem it seems to me to be metaphoric and about nurturing and protection of children. It feels both idealistic and melancholic since the implication of this ideal of a special protective time is that afterwards harm and the rest of the cycle will come.

I think the first two lines (as much as the second line may be very poetic) don't belong in this poem at all. It creates a jarring break when you reach the fourth line which says 'First the leaves...'. Of course if you do remove the first two lines you might need to change the accompanying photo. It might be that the winter scene inspired you to think of the full poem but still, the poem works better without the winter scene, in my opinion.

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