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August 13, 2022

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Holiday, Memoir, Photography, Poetry, Writing Tips

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à-côté de la mer — beside the sea

dans le jardin botanique 
parmi toutes les plantes du monde, 
je me suis retrouvé 

translated to English:

in the botanical garden
amid all the plants in the world,
I found myself again

Copyright 2022 Brenda Davis Harsham (be kind to my first poem in French)

Notes: Exploring le jardin botanique in Nice, France, was like touring the world — I was surrounded by plants from all the continents, but one (can you figure out which was missing?). The City of Nice, spread out far below, rippled like a mirage in the waves of desert heat.

In the heights, surrounded by desert plants, I was reminded of a place I visited as a young woman, Bonaire. Heat, thorns, lizards, and grasses, parched to the color of sand, embraced the wide blue sea — that is how I remember Bonaire. Along with tiny jellyfish that stung my hands. Salt flats that rippled in ferocious sunshine. The one white flamingo in a vast pink multitude. I burned for days, from sun, jelly fish, and longing for something I wanted but didn’t yet have. 

To what magic places have you traveled and where have you found yourself?

Writing Tip: Even if you aren’t sure your haiku is perfect, still your words tell a story — perhaps they say that I’m a novice in poetry. Or that I have a simple heart. Perhaps I reveal my rudimentary, elementary French. My French might be poor, and my heart simple, but perhaps I’m still understood by someone, and that is worth something. You can decide what sharing is worth. 

21 thoughts on “à-côté de la mer — beside the sea”

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