Saturday, March 2, 2013

Your Tonic Like Hawthorn



Hawthorn berries (Crataegus monogyna) 
Image:  Wikimedia Commons





you’re not
supposed to speak softly

in feather light whispers
at my throat

language foreign
to a scrap like me

my mini-heart flutters
in its hummingbird bones

afraid it might learn how to
cherish me too




Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner


 
*Note:  Hawthorn berries, flowers and leaves are used as an herbal medicine in the treatment of heart and cardiovascular ailments.


Written for dVerse Poetics where Fred Rutherford has us keeping it brief!


37 comments:

Brian Miller said...

oo really nice close on this...and isnt it wonderful to have someone that heals your heart? i like the intimacy of the speaking at the throat as well...

Scarlet said...

I really like the last four lines, lovely close ~ Thanks for sharing the info about these berries ~

Happy weekend ~

kelvin s.m. said...

'my mini-heart flutters in its..hummingbird bones..' --- i really like that... makes me wish i had thought these lines... nicely... smiles...

Unknown said...

oh, very cool. Not that you could have known, but I find topics to learn about and read up on them as much as I can. I read a lot. Currently it's on acting, but I have a notebook and homeopathy is on the list, with a subheading for herbal remedies, berries and vines. Really neat how this somehow intersects with your poem. Don't know how long it'll be before I get to that learning but was neat to see here, a sort of precursor to knowledge to come. Really nice imagery in here, love the hummingbird couplet. Thanks for sharing tonight

Claudia said...

very interesting with the berries and the heart...the whispers at the throat...for me there's much tension on longing and a bit afraid..maybe it's just me..smiles

alan1704 said...

in feather light whispers at my throat - Very nice and an excellent feel to the picture. i can feel the anticipation

anthonynorth said...

Beautiful lines.

LLM Calling said...

that's sobrilliant

Sabio Lantz said...

You got me reading on Hawthorne again (I used it as 山査子 - sanzashi in Kampo). Apparently suspect to be a heart tonic but evidence barely shows it holds. Like soft words, ineffective unless the listener stops their bad habit which cause heart failure. Unless the listener and patient learn self-care, self-love, we can really do nothing significant for them.

Fun image here, great phrasings.

Anonymous said...

love this - especially the "hummingbird's bones". It is so evocative of both strength and fragility simultaneously. Great image.

Lisa Williams said...

This is so nice! Another beautiful piece.

Mary said...

Beautifully expressed! Well composed lines with strong images!

Anonymous said...

A very moving lovely poem. So much clever word play - the back and forth of bird language with the featherlight words and your hummingbird bones - even the throat brings up the ruby of that bird. Just lovely. k.

Bodhirose said...

If those berries could help us cherish ourselves that would be potent indeed... Love the delicacy of your write but strong in its message.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I, too, love the "hummingbird bones". Those berries look like what we call rose hips here. Vitamin C in rosehip tea.

Unknown said...

Wow... this is so beautiful and powerful... the last line is like a punch... and yes, the hummingbird bones... The first two stanzas really got to me also... this is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

First - love the title! And the wistless nature thru the poem and kept coming back to the word - scrap - really nice! K

aelfbee said...

I like the hawthorn connection, but my hawthorn has thorns so I imagine you still have to remain, if not a scrap, a scrapper.

Fireblossom said...

You are so good at those snappy, twisty endings. This says loads in just a few lines. A "mini heart"...where do you get this stuff?

hedgewitch said...

a scrap like me

that really hits home--a perfect example of why short poetry can often do more in a few lines than a freaking course in philosophy, or ten years of therapy, for that matter. ;_)

Jessica Lynn Lang said...

Wow. Such reservation in this poem. Beautiful imagery as well.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it's only when someone loves us that we learn to see ourselves as loveable.

Unknown said...

Powerful in its brevity and implications. Such depth of feeling, unworthiness, and the possibility of claiming one's inherent value.

PhotoDiction said...

The fragility in the images really struck me. As fragile as the heart and sometimes spirit is. Lovely words in this.

Dr. Pearl Ketover Prilik (PKP) said...

"feather light whispers and hummingbird bones" a delicate poem conveying a powerful message :)

Sarav said...

Hi Jennifer--Your words really convey the fragility, almost afraid to read it again--for fear the words might just crumble :-) Well done!

Seasideauthor said...

Great words here and sensitive!
Thanks

kaykuala said...

Well crafted Jennifer! Beautiful word-play and imageries! Nicely!

Hank

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Your words are soft, delicate and quite beautiful.
'my mini-heart flutters
in its hummingbird bones'
Lovely
Anna :o]

Anonymous said...

Well written poem.

aka_andrea said...

Excellent!

Wolfsrosebud said...

do like the intimacy of this

Brother Ollie said...

I'm ready to see the hummingbirds again; after reading your poem.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Exquisite gentleness.

Brianna said...

This is gorgeous, and I absolutely adore your last stanza.

Heidi said...

cool comment on how sometimes the right word from the right person can flip a switch inside that counteracts all the bad comments before. lovely and intimate word choice as well. Plus, I learned about Hawthorn!

Anonymous said...

Such a powerful,beautiful imagery...wonderful play of words too...