The Scent of Peaches

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Farm Stand Peaches from Last Summer.

Beneath the blue of wayward sky,
beneath the clouds that wandered by,
like whispered words above the river floated,
just so my cries above the river floated.

Do you remember the day of peaches?
Do you remember the sway of peaches–
their fragrance sweet in the sultry air,
fuzzy-furred and opened inside pink—just there–
the way their juices dripped on our skin and hair—
leaving drops of summer shared—we didn’t care.

Under the peach sun, we laughed and loved.
Under the fruited moon, we moaned, and loved
the summer, loved in the summer, all through the summer,
we loved,
and at the harvest moon, I loved you still, but you were gone

after the summer,
all the peaches were gone,
their sweetness dried and packed away,
and away you stayed.

Now, another year has passed,
another year beneath the sky
beneath the sky, I wonder why—
but I am fine, the past’s gone by

though the scent of peaches still makes me sigh.

Something a bit different from me for dVerse. Laura has asked us to use repetition, specifically, epiphora:

1a. Epiphora (aka Epistrophe or Antistrophe ). The repeat lines should for the most part be consecutive although allowances are made for alternates as well as the use of the repeat word with variance. Employ repetitions with the maxim ‘ too often is too heavy’!

AND those who like an extra challenge might like add in some

1b. Symploce – the combined use of anaphora and epiphora. . .

Fun Fact: Epiphora in medical terms means watery eyes due to excess tear production. So you may like to write a tear-jerker, something sad at least. Its optional!

Also, for Kim’s Tuesday dVerse prompt on fruit.

71 thoughts on “The Scent of Peaches”

  1. I am glad you also went for a tear-jerker, Merril! There is a lot of yearning in your repeated endings, from the whispered words and cries above the river, to the sultry scent of the peaches which linger after the love affair is over.

  3. pure sweet joy reading this poem – the way you used the epiphora repeats, sometimes with a slight twist and the peaches personifying a summer of love
    “their sweetness dried and packed away,
    and away you stayed.”

  6. I love this, Merril. The repetition enforces all those pent-up feelings. And like Björn said, I loved the use of one season of peaches, representing that summer fling that could have been…

  7. Such longing and nostalgia in your lovely verses Merril. Love the peach repetition, as well as your rhyming verses:

    Do you remember the day of peaches?
    Do you remember the sway of peaches–

  8. I think you nailed it here. I guess I struggled with this prompt. I thought I stayed within parameters–but perhaps not. You managed several twists and turns, and the melancholy was virulent.

  10. This brought back so many memories, Merril. Growing up, we’d go to a nearby farm to buy fresh peaches. To this day, I’ve never found peaches as juicy as those. My arm would be covered in sticky juice. It was the best! Beautiful poem! Thanks for providing the definitions. It’s helpful to someone like myself who doesn’t know much about poetry.

    • Thank you so much, Jill. I’m glad I brought back happy memories. Farm fresh produce is the best.
      I just copied and pasted from the dVerse prompt. I didn’t know the terms either.

  16. Really nice, poem. I like how you met two prompts with one poem and compared the peaches to the relationship. I really like the last line. Also, I don’t really drink, but I really like the color of whatever’s in that glass. 🙂

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