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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: Crisscrossed Skies

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It’s Poetry Friday and I am home, after a wonderful month of travel, with a very full heart and three very full notebooks.

One of the wonderful experiences I had was a writing retreat in the South of France.  It still feels luxurious just to say that!  I spent six days at a French farmhouse  (aptly called the French Houseparty) near Carcassonne, with a brilliant group of fellow writers, and under the tutelage of poet Anne Caldwell.

One post can’t do justice to all I learnt – about writing, and about life, with this wonderful group in this equally wonderful location.  But, since it’s Poetry Friday, I thought I’d share two poems I wrote in one of the sessions. Anne had us focussing on all five senses as we took in our surroundings. Firstly, as we stood on the edge of a field of poppies. There was so much to take in, but I was especially drawn to keep looking up – the sky was crisscrossed with the vapor trails of seemingly dozens of planes, and I had to snap pictures, even while I was busily trying to focus on the exercise. 

I’ve seen vapour trails before – many, many times – but never as, on this day, so many. In fact, over the course of the morning, I lost count of how many planes I actually saw flying over adding to the pattern. It was magical. So, no surprise that when it cam time to write, that the trails made it into my first poem.

Blue Sky Day

Bumbling bee

dipping in and out

of red pockets of pleasure

hums a tale of spring.

Tottering tractor

rolls across

brown furrows

ensuring

summer’s sunflowers

are safe.

Winsome windmill

stands still

ready

for Autumn’s toil.

Crisscrossed sky

shows the path taken

by winter-weary travellers

following the sun.

Sally Murphy, 2024

The second exercise we did honed in even more on the senses, as we led each other, one with eyes closed, around the garden, and then stopped and asked our partner to tell us what they could see, hear, feel, smell and taste. I found myself saying, with surprise, ‘I can taste Spring!’  But, when I sat down to write, I was also still obsessed with those vapor trails. This is what I came up with:

Taste It

White trails

crisscross

otherwise perfect-blue sky

showing the paths of

winter-weary travellers

seeking spring.

Down below

I know

they will find it here.

The sun caressing my cheek

my legs

my soul.

The resiny pines

singing with the wind

the dove crooning –

they all know it too.

I can taste spring.

Sally Murphy, 2024

I am, as I said, home now in Australia, and the wintry weather has hit with a vengeance. It is cold and wet. But every time I think of France, I can still taste Spring!

And in other tasty news, when I got home, my copy of a brand new anthology was in the post. I’ll post more about this soon – but today’s Poetry Friday host, Janice, is not only sharing some glimpses, but has included one of the poems I have in the book. So head over there to learn about the anthology, and then  you can see what other poetry Friday goodness is on offer.

Comments

  1. You are overflowing with joy, Sally! Thanks for sharing a taste (hehe) of your amazing retreat. Your poems are so sensual–the red pockets of pleasure, the tottering tractor, the resiny pines. I feel like I’m there. And believe me, I wish I had been!

  3. What a fabulous retreat you had! At first, I was musing that I might not have been as taken with the trails as you were, but then your poems pulled me into those magical moments. Beautiful!

  4. I’ll never forget standing on the playground and having a second grader ask me, “What are those Xs in the sky?”

  5. I’m glad you’re home safe and sound with pockets full of spring to sustain you in the winter months. Those criss-crossed vapor trails…what a fun focus for writing. They are going somewhere and there’s so many places to imagine! I like how you can reassure travelers that there is sun and a taste of spring below for when they arrive. Beautiful!

  6. Sally, your travels have delivered poetry of place, rich with inner thought and strong imagery. you have taken us as readers to where you were standing in France. They say part of the reason we travel is to bring back stories to share with others. Your poems are testimony to this maxim.

    • Thanks Alan. I love being lucky enough to be able to share my travels through the written word – it feels like bringing people along for the journey.

  7. Your experience feels like a ‘once in a lifetime’ one, Sally, and especially nice to be able to ‘taste spring’ when back home, winter begins. Thanks for sharing at least part of it with us. In Denver, blue skies are often the norm & vapor trails ‘criss-cross’ often here, too. I love “red pockets of pleasure”, now imagining those poppies! Keep cozy there – back home!

    • Thanks Linda. We get a lot of vapor trails where I live, but I don’t think I have ever seen so many at the same time. Seemed magical.

  8. Sally, what an experience! I’m so glad you got to go on your sabbatical. Even reading your description: “writing retreat in the south of France” sounds magical. Some of my favorite images: “the sun caressing…my soul”, “Tottering tractor”, safe sunflowers, and “I can taste spring” Here’s to a successful mining of those three full notebooks for your future projects, and to a lot of springtime thawing throughout the winter months.

    • Thank you Patricia – they will indeed keep me warm. So lucky to have those experiences plus I home I love coming back to 🙂

    • Thanks Patricia. I am still feeling snuggly warm whenever I think of all I did/saw/experienced.

  10. Three full notebooks! And a tottering tractor. So much to love! Sign me up for a writing retreat in France. xo

  11. Sally, your adventures in the south of France sound glorious! Your poems take us along to those red-pocket poppy fields where I, too, can taste spring. So glad that you enjoyed a wonderful trip!

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