Sunday, April 11, 2010

Honeysuckle

Did everyone in their childhood suck the nectar out of these? My grandmother was angry and teary eyed the summer we ate all of her flowers.
How do we find these things on our own? Why didn't we try to eat poisonous things? How did we know that rhubarb stolen from a neighbor's garden was good to suck on raw, or the pears from a neighbor's tree were excellent. Forbidden fruit? Were we taught these things before we were old enough to remember? 

To Earthward

by Robert Frost

Love at the lips was touch As sweet as I could bear;
And once that seemed too much;
I lived on air
That crossed me from sweet things,
The flow of- was it musk
From hidden grapevine springs
Down hill at dusk?
I had the swirl and ache
From sprays of honeysuckle
That when they're gathered shake
Dew on the knuckle.
I craved strong sweets, but those
Seemed strong when I was young;
The petal of the rose
It was that stung.
Now no joy but lacks salt
That is not dashed with pain
And weariness and fault;
I crave the stain
Of tears, the aftermark
Of almost too much love,
The sweet of bitter bark
And burning clove.
 When stiff and sore and scarred
I take away my hand
From leaning on it hard In grass and sand,
The hurt is not enough:
I long for weight and strength
To feel the earth as rough
To all my length.

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