tomato jam thick
with tangy lemon slices
brings back summer's warmth
The air hung heavy and thick at my grandparents' house. The humid Illinois air held onto smells that never lingered in the arid air of my California home. Their basement smelled musty, warm and damp from the wringer washing machine. A basket under the laundry chute caught the toys and clothes we dropped down from the upstairs hallway; the basement aroma rising through the chute to greet us. We tossed birdseed on the back lawn and caught fireflies in jars. We baked sugar cookies, thin and crisp. I have my grandma's recipe for those cookies -- and for the tomato jam we spread on toast for breakfast.
Thank you to Joseph Harker for the Reverie prompt on linking memories. Also thanks to We Write Poems for the form (haibun) prompt.
17 comments:
I've never heard of tomato jam before - chutney yes but jam? I'm not sure I would fancy that.
That tomato jam sounds like it might actually taste good on the sugar cookies! Oh, this whole piece is luscious!
Haibun: Nature’s Songs
Tomato jam???? never heard of, but maybe it's worth trying. Nicely done, love that haiku.
I love this, Annette. Tomato jam? Sounds lovely!
Pamela
This was delightful. I think you're the only one to start with the haiku, and I like what it did for your prose.
Tomato Jam? would love to taste that.
Which came first? the haiku or the prose? Nice memories.
A very warm and delicious read! Nicely done haibun.
Oh wow. NOw I'm craving for tomato jam and sugar cookies.
Oh Memories are wonderful. I cherish mine of my Grandparents. Beautiful B
I like the idea of combing the haiku with the prose.
Tomato jam is a totally new thing to me (I wonder about the taste..?)but revisiting childhood, reliving happy memories certainly sounds very familiar. Thank you very much for sharing.
You do these so well-maybe if I had tomato jam to write about that would help.
Very nicely-written and it really brought summer to my mind!
I shudder at the thought of eating this.
A vivid sense of place. The shifts within the prose part that act as transitions between places, make this a tight haibun. Very nicely done. I love the haiku. I need to see if I have anything approaching tomato jam...
margo
By the way - I finally wrote my first piece about place today! Yippee! I saw some clothes on a clothesline- and I was roped in. I did not meet the the prompt ... but it is about place. Hope all is well at your place. :-)
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