POETRY WORKSHOP
A bite of the apple
Alison Chisholm explores a reader’s poem that uses an ideal bite-sized form to suit its subject
BEFORE AND AFTERS
An autumn morning, cobweb covered brambles catch on clothes and skin.
Overhead dew laden leaves and cool skinned apples hang in golden sunlight.
Juice stained fingers reach out to pluck fruit from low, overhanging branches.
I return home, mix flour, butter, sugar, into crumble topping for softened, sweetened fruits.
Dessert is baked to a golden crumb, then thickly custard covered to complement its flavours.
Tongue is teased by tang and crunch and a stickiness on my lips;
so, seconds then -I can’t resist.
When the inspiration for a poem strikes, it may demand that you stick rigidly to every detail as it was presented to you. It might, however, provide the impetus to write a poem but insist that certain details are changed, and that was the experience of Gill Hawkins of Wimborne, Dorset.
Before and Afters is a poem about anticipation, inspired by anticipating the fruit to come from a blossoming tree. The poet describes the experience: ‘A pear tree stands in one of the fields opposite our bungalow. This spring it was particularly stunning, it was swathed in white blossom, suggesting a bumper harvest. (I’ve been told these pears are not suitable for eating, they are cider pears. After trying them I have to agree.) I find it’s always these simple things that inspire.’