Lawn of Thyme
Lawn of Thyme
This lawn, now all thyme,
a purple land mine
of dark buzz, wing shine,
unintended.
This lawn where such time
(no clocks in our mind)
passed, read line by line,
pages tended
each morn, afternoon,
voice struggling to tune
characters assumed,
beneath tree’s shade.
We read while thyme grew
then quick tiptoed through
sweet savory bloom,
our bee-loud glade–
******************************
This draft poem is a Cyhydedd Hir, a Welsh form based upon a 19 syllable line, with a certain interlocking rhyme pattern. I am posting it for Kerry O’Connor’s challenge on the poetry site With Real Toads. I am not sure I’ve got it at all, as I am using (i) slant rhymes and (ii) stealing from – ahem – paying homage to William Butler Yeats who is Irish not Welsh. (But it’s all I can come up with late Sunday night!)
FYI – the picture above is a lawn in upstate New York, which is largely made up of wild thyme at this point, and also is a place where I was lucky enough to spend many hours reading aloud to my children when they were small. I hope you are also lucky enough to have access to such magical places.
Have a great night.
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: Cyhydedd Hir, everyone deserves a bee=loud glade, http:realtoads.blogspot.com, Lawn of Thyme, manicddaily, reading aloud in bee-loud glade, Welsh poem form
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
ManicDDaily 
August 12, 2012 at 11:35 pm
Your own bee-loud glade. You’re in good company! And I love love love your poem’s title. “Lawn of thyme” makes me smile, and I must tell my husband (the punster) about this one.
K
August 13, 2012 at 1:53 am
Wonderful photo, delightful verse!
August 13, 2012 at 8:23 am
This is really lovely. I think that you did a fantastic job with the form.
August 13, 2012 at 8:30 am
Thanks so much, MZ. k.
August 13, 2012 at 8:37 am
This is sublime! I love the thyme-strewn lawn, the time spent in togetherness, the book.. all of it. Just wonderful.
August 13, 2012 at 8:39 am
Thanks so much, Kerry. k.
August 13, 2012 at 9:10 am
smiles…some fun plays on thyme…and other near rhymes like time…time i think is the most important…ever slipping away…i like the reading line by line….as it leads me toward savoring each moment…
August 13, 2012 at 9:18 am
Well, your comment more poetic than my poem! Ha. Hope all is well.k.
August 13, 2012 at 9:26 am
Truly sublime!
I would welcome a lawn such as that…….
Have a wonderful and creative week!
~Mimi
August 13, 2012 at 10:09 am
Thanks! k.
August 13, 2012 at 10:14 am
I would think to be lost in thought sitting amidst this would be pretty magical.
Lovely pic and poem K
August 13, 2012 at 10:55 am
Thanks, Daydreamertoo. k.
August 13, 2012 at 12:42 pm
“We read while thyme grew
then quick tiptoed through
sweet savory bloom,
our bee-loud glade–”
How Brilliant! I have a little patch of thyme in a “lawn” where I am trying to nurture moss, pine needles, periwinkle and thyme instead of the mowing stuff–and I write just above it in a 2nd store study and its little deck–and your poem would be a perfect writing on my wall! It is “a purple land mine” where time is lost among the thyme and I write while the bees buzz.
August 13, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Thanks so much, Susan. Sounds pretty nice. k.
August 13, 2012 at 1:13 pm
I enjoyed your poem – and can imagine the wonderful aroma of thyme. The post Melancholy made me think you hadn’t quite gotten over your melancholy LOL
August 13, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Great work with the form, Karin. I have to admit I haven’t been able to get a handle on it so far, but this is lovely, pastoral, and of course, I love the bees. The structure and slant rhymes(not to mention the dash) make it seem more Dickinson-ish to me than Yeats-y, but nice tribute to his very classic phrase. I esp. like the opening and fourth stanzas.This is one that gets better the more you read it.
August 13, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Thanks so much, Joy. Yes, beginning and end worked the best. I had a hard time with the form – a very busy day and kind of going back and forth to it in my mind and almost thought I’d just give up, but then I had taken the picture, so persisted. It is a form with a great deal of inherent music so I’d like to try it again some time The form reminds me of something from Browning (I think) I’ll have to look it up – miles and miles – something like that, that has that short line that gets extra punch from the rhyme etc. k.
August 13, 2012 at 2:39 pm
A pleasure to read K ~ You rock the form with purple thyme and bee loud glade ~
August 13, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Thanks so much. Yours was terrific. k.
August 13, 2012 at 7:54 pm
oh i LOVE it! great job! *applause*
August 13, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Thanks so much, Marian. k.
August 13, 2012 at 8:15 pm
I think this form lends itself to a dreamy feel and this poem has it in spades…
We read while thyme grew
then quick tiptoed through
sweet savory bloom,
Yes, indeed!
August 13, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Thanks so much, Margaret. k.
August 14, 2012 at 1:11 am
The essence of this poem is gorgeous, (as is the waft of perfume that came to me!) and the internal rhymes work well. I wonder if the syllable counting format has driven the poem a little, and it might be even better in a freer form: eg morning instead of morn and quickly instead of quick.
August 14, 2012 at 6:54 am
Dear Viv, those are very good points. K.
On Aug 14, 2012,
August 14, 2012 at 11:05 am
Excellent poem!
August 14, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Great use of the form. I love the last line!
August 15, 2012 at 7:20 pm
This lawn where such time
(no clocks in our mind) – great lines. For the word choices, and how it reads. A lot of fun to read in fact.
August 15, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Thank you.
August 15, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Impressive! This was such a challenging form to me! Liked thinking about your lawn of thyme.
August 15, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Hi Peggy – do you have a site – do you have the Africa site – that looked fascinating- wonderful poems. (I couldn’t find where to comment, but looked great.) k.