A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 20,000 daily subscribers and over 8,000 archived posts.
for the clay of language, how we mold and shape our days
with words. The pucker of “pearl” with its liquid ending.
The slip of “salmon” from our tongue. The lazy lipstick
of “lapis lazuli,” and how just the sound of all these “l’s”
makes me want to tie the hammock between two elms
and swing in it under the clear blue skies, sunny-side up.
And now it’s summer and the word for that is ‘strawberry,”
its bright green cap and freckled fruit. Oh, the world of words
is grist for the mill, is gold-medal gravitas, as I sway in May
breezes, counting my days, syllable by syllable.

Copyright 2023 Sharon Fagan McDermott
Sharon McDermott Fagan is the author of Life without Furniture (Jacar Press, 2018). Millions of Suns: On Writing and Life with co-author M.C. Benner Dixon will coming out in Fall 2023 from University of Michigan Press. McDermott lives and teaches in Pittsburgh.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
So beautiful and evocative! Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Mark!
>
LikeLike
Thanks for such kind comments, Mark! I really appreciate it–and you!
LikeLike
A delicious poem!
LikeLike
Yes, it is. I think of it as a lyric prayer.
>
LikeLike
Thank you, Lisa–I love that comment!
LikeLike
I loved every syllable and sound in this poem!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do too, Laure-Anne.
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Laure-Anne! That means so much to me.
LikeLike
Gorgeous poem
LikeLiked by 1 person
’Tis.
>
LikeLike
Wow, I really appreciate your lovely comment, Rose Mary!
LikeLike