Thursday, September 10, 2020

Counting

Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.
~Ruth Reichl


What have you eaten? Sharon Tracey has chowed down on places:

I have eaten geographies
by Sharon Tracey

hard bits and soft pieces,
bitter, sour, and sweet
places that have talked back
to me,
made me who I am,
made me ache from too much—
whittled me.

What we love, we love.

I have sipped from a cenote,
bitten a spur, savored fine strata
near the mouth of a river.
Swallowed decades of dust,

read the rest here

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Whispers from the Ridge has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Kiesha!

10 comments:

Linda Mitchell said...

Tabatha, this poem is...oh, it's so wonderful. It's delicious in the way I the reader can really understand the consuming of dust and earth and giving birth in a universal way to a unique child. This poem is a keeper.

jama said...

Fab poem -- so cleverly done. Love the extended metaphor.

Robyn Hood Black said...

Hear, hear - I LOVE this and am delighted to taste this poem of the singular within the universal, and to 'meet' this poet here this week. Thanks, Tabatha!

Linda B said...

You so often offer poems that make me think, Tabatha. Thanks for this poem. I love that opening very much, and "whittled me." is fabulous. Happy Weekend!

Mary Lee said...

I love the idea that all the landscapes and geographies of our lives become a part of our very being.

I'm off to nibble the very local geography of my late summer tangle of a garden!

Alan j Wright said...

I was intrigued by the title Tabatha. It was curiosity that brought me here today. Glad I followed my instincts. Enjoyed the poem immensely. They say we travel to gather stories we can tell. These various settings and their particular features become ingrained memories and often influence our attitudes to places. Such a good choice to share.

Kay said...

What a poem! I did laugh when I got to the line about swallowing dust. My morning walk is along a gravel road, and we swallowed dust each time a car drove past. I think I prefer the metaphorical in the poem. And yes, there are geographies that have seeped into my very being. It's good to remember them today.

michelle kogan said...

A journey-texture filled poem through so much of life, and offering such gratitude.
I really like the humbleness in these lines:
"mere motes
in the soul of an eon"

Intriguing site to, thanks for the poem and introducing me to this site Tabatha!

Whispers from the Ridge said...

"what we love, we love" Oh so true and simply put. Thanks for sharing, Tabatha!

author amok said...

This poem! It balances the specific details of one life against the grand details of our planet -- amazing.