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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!
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Saturday, March 2, 2013
Your Tonic Like Hawthorn
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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...
ReplyDeleteI really like the last four lines, lovely close ~ Thanks for sharing the info about these berries ~
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend ~
'my mini-heart flutters in its..hummingbird bones..' --- i really like that... makes me wish i had thought these lines... nicely... smiles...
ReplyDeleteoh, 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
ReplyDeletevery 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
ReplyDeletein feather light whispers at my throat - Very nice and an excellent feel to the picture. i can feel the anticipation
ReplyDeleteBeautiful lines.
ReplyDeletethat's sobrilliant
ReplyDeleteYou 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.
ReplyDeleteFun image here, great phrasings.
love this - especially the "hummingbird's bones". It is so evocative of both strength and fragility simultaneously. Great image.
ReplyDeleteThis is so nice! Another beautiful piece.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully expressed! Well composed lines with strong images!
ReplyDeleteA 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.
ReplyDeleteIf those berries could help us cherish ourselves that would be potent indeed... Love the delicacy of your write but strong in its message.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love the "hummingbird bones". Those berries look like what we call rose hips here. Vitamin C in rosehip tea.
ReplyDeleteWow... 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.
ReplyDeleteFirst - love the title! And the wistless nature thru the poem and kept coming back to the word - scrap - really nice! K
ReplyDeleteI like the hawthorn connection, but my hawthorn has thorns so I imagine you still have to remain, if not a scrap, a scrapper.
ReplyDeleteYou 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?
ReplyDeletea scrap like me
ReplyDeletethat 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. ;_)
Wow. Such reservation in this poem. Beautiful imagery as well.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's only when someone loves us that we learn to see ourselves as loveable.
ReplyDeletePowerful in its brevity and implications. Such depth of feeling, unworthiness, and the possibility of claiming one's inherent value.
ReplyDeleteThe fragility in the images really struck me. As fragile as the heart and sometimes spirit is. Lovely words in this.
ReplyDelete"feather light whispers and hummingbird bones" a delicate poem conveying a powerful message :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer--Your words really convey the fragility, almost afraid to read it again--for fear the words might just crumble :-) Well done!
ReplyDeleteGreat words here and sensitive!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Well crafted Jennifer! Beautiful word-play and imageries! Nicely!
ReplyDeleteHank
Your words are soft, delicate and quite beautiful.
ReplyDelete'my mini-heart flutters
in its hummingbird bones'
Lovely
Anna :o]
Well written poem.
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
ReplyDeletedo like the intimacy of this
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to see the hummingbirds again; after reading your poem.
ReplyDeleteExquisite gentleness.
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous, and I absolutely adore your last stanza.
ReplyDeletecool 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!
ReplyDeleteSuch a powerful,beautiful imagery...wonderful play of words too...
ReplyDelete