Faraway

nearby -- the tagline Georgia O'Keeffe used to sign her correspondence.  So, I'm at the "faraway,"  aka Strybing Arboretum and encournter this plant in the Fragrance Garden.  It appears both otherwordly & familiar.

When I discover the name of the plant, I am delighted as only a good punchline amuses:

& there's more.  I'm walking in the nearby, down my street by the house with the lush vegetation where I always linger to see what can be seen.  Yes, yes, Rincinus Communis.   Living in the happy Faraway nearby.  

So what's for lunch?  Something celebratory & colorful.  

Pizza Faraway Nearby:  fresh figs, tomato, feta, walnuts, black pepper.  Yummy.  

& the poem:

OR FIGS

one should be as greedy for love

as one is for the ripest of peaches 

How does a farmer's market shape the next poem you write?

It is the time of figs -- brown & green.  Pump.  Yummy,  Eaten from hand.   Or split & roasted. 

Figs offer the poem a delicious sense of nakedness and simplicity.  Ah, the shape of a fig -- bring that into the poem. 

Figs. Why do poems remind me of figs?

Portable
Edible
Nutritious
Makes the mouth happy
Engages many senses
Plenty of seeds (which are not bothersome to eat)
Fine subject matter for a poem
The very word is a mini poem, making a sound that is both definitive and playful



And versatile as in cooking -- fresh or dried. Yup, figs.