Outside my window,
wind chimes
percussion the air.
Outside my window,
sun sinking
flashlights the trees.
Outside my window,
sweet olive blooms
perfume my breath.
Outside my window,
baldcypress needles
paintbrush neon green.
Outside my window,
still bayou
mirrors spring’s dance.
–Margaret Simon, (c) 2018
I love this picture and poem as outside my window is 12 + inches of snow!
What incredible use of nouns as verbs. It caught me off guard in the first stanza and I loved it by the second…”percussion the air” “flashlights the trees.” Lovely. The repetition and the short lines also serve to capture your view in snapshots – and then the snapshot at the end is perfect. Also, if that is the view from your porch, I think I need to come visit!
That’s our view. Come visit. This is a perfect time of year.
Between poem and photo you captured the beauty! 🙂
I need to have a permanent image that I can just paste each time I visit here. It would say: you are amazing and so inspiring! I love “percussions the air” the best but all of your noun/verbs are wonderful.
This definitely makes us want to be there…I like the final verse best.
Knowing the backstory of how you came to write this poem, I am happy you steered yourself in this direction in spite of the condition of your heart as you sat down to write. I cannot believe this is the view out your window! (I half expect to see an alligator peeking up from the water!)
What a beautiful poem. It makes me want to visit and linger in your backyard! Thank you for sharing this piece with us!
It’s already been said, but wow! you did an amazing job putting nouns to work as verbs–what’s the official name for that–verbing? Whatever it’s called, it’s exciting and effective. I’m envious of your backyard scenery. What a gorgeous view!
Outside your window’s looking a lot greener than outside my window! I like the term verbing a lot! It’s such a sensory poem, Margaret!