22 August 2012

Summer Heat




Plants line my balcony parched
in the unrelenting summer heat.
Even with daily sacks of water, leaves
tip brown, flowers fall, unable
to hold. My neighbors say their herbs die.
Against all this my basil thickens, greens
and lushes, reaches to that scorching sun
and grows heedless of what withers others.

My neighbors come to beg basil. They want
what that plant offers, want to eat it, add it
to their food, feed it to their children,
watch it lurch up as most succumb. They tell
friends and friends seek some. The more its shared
the more it grows. Basil takes that blazing
sun, paints yellow on its green leaves, sports it
like a scout's survival badge and just keeps growing.


This is posted as part of Open Link Night over at dVerse Poets Pub hosted today by Natasha Head. It's a talented group, decidedly diverse, who love poetry so check it out.

20 comments:

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    1. Will do. My Honey has a wonderful recipe that adds in walnuts to the usual ingredients. Yummy.

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  2. Lovely poem of drought and quirky survival. it leaves us wanting some! k.

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  3. mmmm...I recognized the picture right away and my sense of smell felt the loss of not being able to smell it through the computer. Its resilience is quite remarkable.

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    1. The fragrance is amazing. I pick it daily for my caprese panini and it fills the air with its scent.

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  4. Wow! My basil looks nothing like yours. Of course, our environments are totally different. But it sure tastes good anyway! :-)

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    1. The taste in this environment is different than I've had before. It's like it incorporates the air in a whole new way somehow. It's remarkable.

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  5. Yummmm. Your basil, our tomatoes...a bit of balsamic. Sheer heaven. Our basil is happy, too. I love late summer garden's offering.

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    1. Tomatoes are in season and cheap at our town's open market. So I regularly have exactly what you're describing. What a gift.

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  6. smiles...i might need to get me some basil if it flourishes under tough conditions...esp if that rubs off...smiles....

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    1. I have that sensation when I eat it- I'm becoming more like it.

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  7. Pesto will not be denied. :-)

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    1. We eat pesto frequently. It tastes fabulous since it's so fresh.

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  8. ha nice...you gave that basil quite some character...what a metaphor as well... had basil in the garden as well and so true..the hotter it went, the better it grew and flourished

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  9. That basil is quite a character. I just watch and report.

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  10. I only have one basil plant, but it is enthusiastic in this summer's heat. We use a bit with salami, provolone, and Roma tomatoes plus a little olive oil. It's a favorite when we tailgate at the ballpark.

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