Isn’t it pretty to think so? — The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
that blossoms come as tame as clouds,
with their champagne blush inculcate thoughts otherwise
deep in slumber;
I look for you at the edge of a dream,
echoes of skin on a sultry June evening that has forgotten
its path while pursuing yours—
I am going to need you to memorize every detail there is
to my French vanilla lavender perfume.
That Lowell probably had to hold himself back while naming
their names,
bread, this bread has a crunch to the crust that brings back so
much from the past—go laugh in the places you have cried
before, change the narrative.
Despite their power, fragility laces the horns,
upon the sea-washed sand there lie questions whose answers
never arrived, I wonder what Ares truly thought
of distasteful aspects of brutal warfare; we know not
if the rest of the world sees us the way we do ourselves,
preferably untainted.
Believe me, when I tell you the empty sky is filled with promises
unseen, that sound of cicadas singing in the elm trees
mean nothing
and everything at the same time to lovers meeting after long—
long after the sun has risen with crimson delight,
isn’t it poetry, isn’t it truth, isn’t it possible that it might be so?
I have died a thousand times
lighting the clouds over and over again with my pen.
Photo credits: “Lush Life,” by Loui Jover, Pinterest
Lisa hosts at dVerse and invites us to pick one of Hemingway’s quote to be inspired by and write a poem. Come join us! 💝
Also inspired by the title of Henry Vaughan’s poetic masterpiece,
“Sweet Empty Sky of June Without a Stain.” 🥠
Posted for Poetics – One True Sentence @dVerse Poets Pub
Dying a thousand times… it’s marvelous what a pen can do… very good.
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
How imaginative this can be and brought me to dreaming from clouds to perfume to bread, sound of cicadas and sun. This line was amazing:
isn’t it poetry, isn’t it truth, isn’t it possible that it might be so?
Aww gosh! Thank you so much, Grace 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Sanaa I love what you did with the idea! The thought that poets can write the impossible into possible, there is such magic there. My favorite line:
“upon the sea-washed sand there lie questions whose answers
never arrived”
p.s. This is not the quote I thought you would write to! 🙂
Thank you so much, Lisa 😀 I was instantly drawn to the line as I sat down to contemplate what I would write.. thank you so much for the glorious prompt. I enjoyed it 💄❤️
“isn’t it poetry, isn’t it truth, isn’t it possible that it might be so?”
Yes!
❤️❤️❤️
‘I look for you at the edge of a dream,’ this poem is a midsummer’s dream, filled with delights!
‘isn’t it poetry, isn’t it truth, isn’t it possible that it might be so?’
– with poetry, anything is possible, as your words show 🙂
Thank you so much, Ingrid 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Yes, poets are spectators, sometimes provocateurs, and sometimes dream weavers, futurists, and philosophers.
We are a special breed, and our pens quiver with the power of the ages, and the spearhead of compassion, and the tendrils of truth. I’m just saying.
Absolutely! Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Ah, well penned. Love that ending. And the choice of photo🙂
Pat
Thank you so much, Pat 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
For all the losses, we just have this pen and Elizabeth Bishop’s sad command — “Write it!” Would it be pretty to think otherwise?
Thank you so much, Brendan 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
“go laugh in the places you have cried
before, change the narrative.”
❤️❤️❤️
The whole poem, just the whole poem, Sanaa, is divine. I love all your poems though. These lines especially, were swoonsome:
“I look for you at the edge of a dream,
echoes of skin on a sultry June evening that has forgotten
its path while pursuing yours—”
“go laugh in the places you have cried
before, change the narrative.”
“Despite their power, fragility laces the horns”
Simply gorgeous <3
Awww gosh! Thank you so much, Sunra 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
A truthful ending, Hemingway would approve! This line dazzled as well: “go laugh in the places you have cried before, change the narrative.” It’s a fun practice! 💗
Thank you so much, Tricia 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Wonderful. I especially like your ending lines,
“isn’t it poetry, isn’t it truth, isn’t it possible that it might be so?
I have died a thousand times
lighting the clouds over and over again with my pen.”
Keep on imagining.
Thank you so much, Alicia 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Your lovely poem has a beautiful sweetness to it that carries all the way through. It is pretty to think so and dream of all that life can be.
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
beauty and imagination abound, I like how you wander and dip into so many topics and emotions! A true masterpiece Sanaa ..
❤️❤️❤️
‘I look for you’ .. ‘I am going to need you’ .. so Sanaa!!! This is beautiful.
Thank you so much, Helen 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Sanaa,
This took my breath away, and the immaculately beautiful last lines __
“I have died a thousand times
lighting the clouds over and over again with my pen.”
Exquisite.
pax,
dora
Thank you so much, Dora 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Sanaa, this is so beautiful and captivating. I found myself on the edge of every line, the imagery imaginative and intimate. The final two lines were such an amazing closer, it’s chilling. I also adored these few lines as well:
“I look for you at the edge of a dream,
echoes of skin on a sultry June evening that has forgotten
its path while pursuing yours—
I am going to need you to memorize every detail there is
to my French vanilla lavender perfume.”
Such brilliant, amazing writing. <3
Awww gosh! Thank you so much, Lucy 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
I have died a thousand times
lighting the clouds over and over again with my pen.
The difficulty in writing is very much apparent here Sanaa! Having to ‘die several times’ Great close!
Hank
Thank you so much, Hank 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
All those promises…and yet by putting them into words, they live.
Thank you so much, Kerfe 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️