In this week's segment of KNAU's series PoetrySnaps! we hear from David M. Parsons, a prolific writer and former Texas Poet Laureate. When he is struck by inspiration, he writes ideas down on small pieces of paper which he later develops into poems. That’s how Parsons’ poem, I Would Give You the Single Strawberry, came to life.
David M. Parsons:
An image will come to my mind, and I decide to explore that image. So, I may be driving along and think of something or see something. I may read something that captures my imagination, and I will write it on a slip of paper and file it away and then I’ll follow up on it later. That’s actually how I got into the poem I’m going to read today; I read an article in The Sun Magazine, and it triggered the poem I’m going to be reading.
That’s really how I operate. I wish I could also say that I get up every morning and write from 8-10, but I don’t do that either. I’m like a dog that finds a bone and I just start gnawing on it until I’m finished with it.
I Would Give You the Single Strawberry
Not because it is the end of May: the season—
or that in the 17 th Century, William Butler said,
It is doubtless God could have made a better berry,
but doubtless, God never did; or that the delicate
uniquely heart-shaped berry has been heralded
through the ages as a symbol of purity, passion
and healing; or because of Shakespeare’s adornment
of Desdemona’s hankie; or that Madame Tallien
of Napoleon’s court would crush 22 pounds in a fine
basin and bathe in the glory of the luscious ruby juices;
nor because of its shape and color, it was the symbol
for Venus: Goddess of Love; or that it was widely held
by Romans to alleviate symptoms of melancholy, fainting,
kidney stones, halitosis, attacks of gout, liver, and spleen;
not even the legend that if you are lucky enough
to have a double berry and share it with one
of the opposite sex, surely true love will follow;
not even that they are the only fruit carrying their seeds
boldly on the outside like the regality of knights of olde.
I would give you the single strawberry as a kind of communion.
offered in recognition, remembrance, and celebration
of our brotherly and sisterly spirits;
moreover, as a reminder: strawberries are not harvested
with machines, their tiny bodies being so very delicate,
human hands must carefully harvest each berry;
and as we savor it, let us meditate together on the visions
of the multitude of pickers—people like you and me—bending
under the brutal sun in the rote of work, taking each unique berry
with measured grace, with reverent aplomb—I would give you
a single strawberry because despite all that has perished
and been lost the past year, we
have lived to see…to taste…another glorious spring!
About the poet:
David M. Parsons is an writer, educator and former Poet Laureate of Texas. For nearly 30 years, he has hosted elaborate birthday celebrations for American poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman with presentations from notable scholars and poets.
About the host:
Steven Law is a poet, journalist and educator based in Page, Arizona. He is the author of a collection of poems called Polished.
About the music:
Original music by Flagstaff-based band Pilcrowe.
