Monday 13 September 2010

Another poem for the Poetry Bus this week.

My dear friend, Joan Cairns, is eighty-eight years old and writes wonderful poetry. This week I remembered to tell her Marion's subject for the bus - "Colour" and joan rang me this morning to say she had written a poem about red. So here it is - she does not compute but she does love to have her work read - so I am putting it here on her behalf. Isn't it good?

RED.

This tree, this day,

performs her sensuous dance
of red leaves
falling in spirals
slow as spiders.

One by one
she sheds her scarlet clothes,
teasing us with glimpses
of her nakedness to come.

By dusk the wind
has fingered clouds on the sky.
The dance begins,
a different, hectic rhythm.
The tree is abashed in her nudity,
her red clothes lying at her feet.

Joan Cairns.

17 comments:

jeanette from everton terrace said...

I very much enjoyed it. It's wonderful. "She sheds her scarlet clothes..." fabulous!

George said...

Please tell Mrs. Cairns that I enjoyed her poem immensely. Beautiful, spare, and well-crafted! Bravo!

Reflections said...

Great reviews for Mrs. Cairns...

Loved the last lines of,'The tree is abashed in her nudity, her clothes lying at her feet.'

Reader Wil said...

This is a perfect autumn poem. I can see the tree shedding her red leaves.

Tramp said...

The idea of leaves falling being a dance is something that speaks to me.
...Tramp

Gerry Snape said...

the wind has fingered clouds on the sky....what an amazing line of words!

Heather said...

That is a wonderful poem Pat. Please pass on my thanks to your friend for allowing us to read her contribution. The next time I am in the Acer Glade at Batsford Arboretum in autumn I will remember this poem - perfect.

Gwil W said...

Pat, I am always left with the feeling that I have experienced something magical whenever I read one of Joan's poems. There are, as you know, two of Joan's poems on my poetry2010 side-blog. They are beautiful and magical too. I hope somebody is collecting and saving all of Joan's poems. Best wishes to you, Joan.
gwilym

Titus said...

Thank you Weaver, and do tell Joan Cairns that I enjoyed and admire her work.

Penny said...

This is wonderful such evocative words.
Oh and I am a cat and dog person, although the present resident cat Oscar who is shaped like a large orange tiger, he is huge, occasionally has a mean streak, attacks from behind chairs, he should know better, he is nearly eleven. With him though we never have a mouse in the house, although the year we had a black snake in the house was interesting.

Totalfeckineejit said...

Tell Joan it's beautiful and that she's welcome on the bus anytime. Ilove the leaves falling slow as spiders and the idea of the naked tree with her clothes at her feet.Fantastico!

Midlife Roadtripper said...

The tree is abashed in her nudity, her red clothes lying at her feet."

I love that.

izzy said...

Very nice ! love the combination of image and movement!

Unknown said...

Very nice indeed!

The Weaver of Grass said...

I have just printed out all your comments to pass on to Joan - she will be thrilled that her poetry has reached a wider audience.

Karen said...

Very nice, Pat! Thanks for posting.

Dave King said...

That is a poem to be proud of, it has so many good things in it. I shall be reading it a few times more.