Remember last week when I shared my poem swap for Iphigene Daradar? That next day I did hear from her, that she's in Australia, and will get my swap package when she returns. Then, the very next day, I received a package from.......... Iphigene! You know as well as writing poetry, she is also a marvelous artist, so not only did I receive a special poem, there was a small painting inside, too and a collaged envelope for the poem! Iphigene must know Colorado (maybe Denver, too) well, because she wrote about rain, a childhood memory, but one I hold dear whenever we actually do receive enough to "play"!
Thanks, Iphigene, for the super swap you sent!
Memories of Rain
by: iphigene
I remember rain as heat
Escapes the concrete
Streets of my neighborhood
This sweat-hugging day.
I think about how we'd
Run to it, as the clouds
Turn dark and the first
Drops of water fell
From the Sky.
I remember how we'd kick the
Water as it gathered in the gutter
Splashing our already
Wet bodies with
More.
We'd stand on the spouts
And pretend we were
in the mountains
Standing underneath
A Mighty waterfall.
Some of us would
Dry our hands,
Fold paper boats,
And race them
in the rising water
Cheering the last
Boat floating.
I remember everything
Purifying tiny hearts
Into joyous laughter
A fleeting reprieve
From al the disaster.
I have loved the rain.
I love it still and
Pray for it
this summer day.
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| Also fun just to see stamps from another country! |
A lovely repetition of I remember...takes us back into memory. What a lucky poetry swap recipient you are!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think so, too, Linda. Thank you!
DeleteWhat a glorious poem! And such fun to find that you were swapping each other.
ReplyDeleteIphigene's memory poem to you reminds me of an experience you may have had in your childhood. Enjoy the poem Linda, and lovely art she included!
ReplyDeleteThis poem is a prize. The repeated line takes me back into my own memory of playing in the rain, a delightful summer day of childhood.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kat, Michelle, & Margaret. I do remember playing in the rain, too, a joyous thing. Iphigene wrote it just right!
ReplyDeleteOh, this poem does bring back so many rain memories from childhood. I had forgotten how joyous rain can be when it is an invitation to play.
ReplyDelete"This sweat-hugging day" is such a great line that reminds me of my childhood days when air-conditioning was not available. Iphigene captured her love of rain in the special poem she created for you. Her beautiful painting of the little paper boat is a great accompaniment to the poem. Enjoy your summer day swapee friend.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful poem! One of the things I regret most about raising my kids (and I'm not quite sure how it even happened) is that they both are squeamish/irritated about getting wet. I loved spending time in the rain growing up. The smell alone, brings back such memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kay, Carol, & Michelle. I've been working at the bookstore much of the day, so just read your fun comments. Yes, I guess we all have those childhood rainy memories, & yes, the smell was wonderful too as we cooled off from the 'sweat-hugging' time.
ReplyDeleteThere is something delicious about summer shower, isn't there? Iphigene's poem perfectly captures the joy of playing in the rain. Thank you for sharing your special gift with us, Linda!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Catherine, whenever we have rain, which truly is a gift here, I will remember the poem.
DeleteIphigene's poem is so refreshing! I love the paper boats (in the poem and painting).
ReplyDeleteI love that, too, remember floating boats down the gutters! Thanks, Tabatha!
DeleteWow! Iphigene sent me back into the thunderstorms of my youth when we would watch "the clouds turn dark," get our bathing suits on, and pray for rain to help "heat escape the concrete".
ReplyDeleteI did not live near a swimming pool, so didn't get to go very often, but yes, we would grab the suits when it looked like rain. Love that you did, too, Cheriee! Thanks!
DeleteWhat a beautiful gift! The poem brought back childhood Illinois rain memories for me, too.
ReplyDeleteA pitch-perfect Colorado rain poem! Oh, how I loved playing in the street gutters when we had enough rain for temporary rivers there!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous poem! It reminds me of Karen Hesse's "Come on, Rain!" It makes me want to run outside into the next rainfall and recapture that joy. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kimberly, Mary Lee, & Molly, wishing I could say we had rain yesterday, though others did. It is a memory to hold onto that Iphigene wrote.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a lovely poem. It really captures what a rainy day was like when I was a child growing up in Brooklyn. And that envelope is just wonderful, as is the painting. How fortunate to have a friend like Iphigene.
ReplyDeleteI think Iphigene has touched many of us with that playing in the rain. Thanks!
DeleteGorgeous wet memories--lucky you!
ReplyDeleteI do agree! Thanks, Heidi!
DeleteGreat swap!
ReplyDelete