Sliver of a Smile

She smiles a satisfied sliver
at the burgeoning bounty
of hedgerow berries:
deep blue bilberries,
shiny blackberries,
scarlet hips and haws.
The scent of summer has faded
along with the tarnished rose blooms,
leaving a fruity sweetness
and the tang of a blue moon.

Kim M. Russell, 4th September 2023

Image by Gina Hamm on Unsplash

I’m hosting the Quadrille over at the dVerse Poets Pub today, where we are writing poems of exactly 44 words containing the word ‘sliver’. Please come and join us with a Quadrille and a comment!

56 thoughts on “Sliver of a Smile”

    1. Thank you, Lill. I’ve never seen so many berries, of all colours, shapes and sizes, as this year. The birds and squirrels are having a wonderful time. 🙂

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  5. This poem is so clever and has kind of a youthful energy to it… made me smile. Love the “burgeoning bounty”, beautiful wordplay. Exquisite colors, scents and tastes… the tang of the blue moon is quite something.

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    1. Thank you, Alison. We seem to have everyone else’s berries here. I went for a walk after dinner and I’ve never seen so many berries in the hedgerows and people’s gardens. I’ve seen neighbours blackberry picking too.

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  11. So nice, Kim. I’d like to be there, berry patches are sooo neat. It brings memories of my workplace, at an Air Force Satellite Tracking Station, in New Hampshire on what the natives called the high hill, to be a mountain. There were gobs of wild blueberries, bring a bucket.
    ..

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    2. Kim, I am so very sorry. I’ll blame it on being slightly dyslexic, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. And to think I read several times. Thank you, I hope it never happens again.
      ..

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      1. No problem, Jim. The two words are easily confused. I even tripped up myself and had to look really closely to see that I had transposed the letters L and I. 🙂

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      2. And I was able to rework the line about the broken window, they all are short five syllables, to include “sliver” and still keep my lines and 44-word count. Thank you a lot, I like to follow instructions.
        ..

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  16. I think you transported me there surrounded by the sights, scents and tastes! Such a beautiful homage to berries, the end of summer and the blue moon. Especially love the “tang” that lingers past your poem….

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      2. Today is comfortable but we’re expecting temperatures of around 30 by Thursday. Then it will feel like torture. The best places to be will be our cottage, which stays quite cool, and our shady garden.

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      3. We’ve been running at 36-38° since last Friday and it’s going to last until next Tuesday. They say. It’s coming from the Sahara whatever it is. We’re indoors in the dark with the windows closed now.

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      5. The end of August was worse. Peaked at 42.8° thankfully only for two days. It’s amazing what you can get used to though. We spent Sunday afternoon outside planting out and repotting. Gave up when the thermometre went over 34°. It’s too dry though. The vegetation and the wildlife is suffering.

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