Friday, May 10, 2013

Sweet Impossible Blossoms


I have always loved buying fruit at roadside stands, pulling the first peach of summer from a paper bag and biting into its sweetness. Then, later, I sit at the kitchen table and have another, one with cream and sugar, old-fashioned decadence in a small white bowl.

"From Blossoms"

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.


~ Li-Young Lee, from Rose


Li-Young Lee is a contemporary poet.

No known attribution for the photograph.

26 comments:

  1. I love this poem. I also love the peaches he describes so eloquently. Thank you for this fine summer gift, Teresa. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure, Jan. I love sharing these poems that reach out to me...

      Delete
  2. Like this poem -- but especially the words. "to carry within us an orchard, to eat
    not only the skin, but the shade" -- barbara

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peaches - the best fruit of summer. Just today, I received "the" email - at the berry stand down the road, across the ferry, up through the prairie, the blackberries and peaches are in, and ready for picking.

    Would I drive for two hours to muck about in an over-wet orchard, pulling peaches from the trees and berries from the vine? Oh, yes, I would. And now I have a poem to go with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You write such lovely comments, much like your own posts, rich with description and emotion... Thank you so much.

      Delete
  4. Good Lord, this poem caught me as I gaze out the windows here where I write, with all the fruit trees in blossom and all the promise of what is to come. What an evocative poem this is, Teresa, and a new poet for me to explore, and "to carry within us an orchard" . . .
    It will be a long while for fresh peaches hereabouts, but, you compel me to put out a paper bag - just in case. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we have a bit of a wait, but I am looking forward to it very much, also. I hope you're having a good weekend, Penny.

      Delete
  5. Dear Teresa, now that is Oneness. Peace.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Certainly one of the great rites of summer is to pick fresh fruit and eat it right off the vine. And sometimes, better yet, to take it home and add cream to peaches, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Something to look forward to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bill, Nothing so wonderful as fresh fruit and cream... Yummy.

      Delete
    2. Yes, a real treat and something I only let myself do about once a summer (my metabolism isn't quite what it used to be). But still I can dream about it, can't I?

      BTW, I just chased a black bear out of our recycling. Indignant he was!

      Delete
    3. Neither is mine... It really does feel very decadent now...

      A bear! I'm jealous! I've only seen the scat and am wanting a real sighting (I think).

      Delete
  7. Peaches with cream, one of my favorite flavors.
    The poem has a special feeling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nothing quite like that combo, is there... I'm glad you like the poem...

      Delete
  8. He has caught the feeling of hot summer fruit exactly. A peach is not just a peach, it is a life time of sunshine concentrated into a small piece of heaven.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hasn't he? I just love how this poet writes, and I love your description of the peach ... perfect.

      Delete
  9. Ahhhhhhh. Peaches with cream was always my mom's favorite. I always chose ice cream to go with my peaches. She would also put a slice of cheddar cheese on her apple pie. Both of my parents grew up on farms during the 1920's. Once a YEAR they might get an orange. That orange was a HUGE treat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mom made the best dumplings and then added peaches and cream to them... Our parents were cut from the same cloth it seems, as are we...

      Delete
  10. I've often wished I could have the capacity for delight for a single orange that people used to have when they only got one in their Christmas stockings. Best we can do with our abundance is give a holler for the summer peach and the blessed tomato, which can't be duplicated in the winter--can't put enough sunshine in it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Murr, yes, the tomato and the peach, both of which have to be home grown, it seems, for the right sunshine to reach them...

      Delete
  11. "Come, Come,
    Whoever you are! Wanderer,
    Worshipper, Lover of Leaving,
    Come.
    This is not a caravan of despair.
    It doesn't matter if you've broken
    Your vows a thousand times, still
    Come.
    And yet again
    Come!"

    He was a big Turkish philosopher. Name is "Muhammed Celaleddin-i Rumi".. One of my friend told about your blog and it makes me very happy.

    Best wishes from Turkey.

    Mehmet Osman Çağlar

    (http://dr-jivago.blogspot.com)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mehmet, Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I have now visited yours and will return. I love the words of Rumi, which are on my sidebar, and also Hafiz, whom I have often posted. Best wishes to you, as well.

      Delete
  12. How wonderful to be able to buy peaches from the side of the road! Living where we do, surrounded by semi-detached homes and wailing sirens .......I dream.....

    X Jane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet lady Jane, how nice to hear from you. I hope you find a small bag of fresh peaches with your name on it this summer... :)

      Delete