This week's Poem Of The Week, presented in association with Poetry Ireland, is Picking Figs by Anne Tannam - read it in full below.
Picking Figs
She rings me in the early evening
– my first born lately flown the nest –
to tell me they’ve been picking figs
from trees growing on his father’s land.
She tells me of their plans to make fig jam.
I let the phrase settle in my ear,
say it to myself to taste it on my tongue;
close my eyes, see a table set for breakfast
– the winter Spanish sun still warm
across the walls and tiles –
the two of them sitting in easy silence:
one drinking the last of freshly squeezed orange juice,
the other spreading fig jam on crusty bread,
days of such mornings behind them,
days of such mornings ahead.
Anne Tannam is a Dublin poet with two collections: Tides Shifting Across My Sitting Room Floor (Salmon Poetry 2017) and Take This Life (WordOnTheStreet 2011). A spoken word artist, Anne has performed at festivals and events in Ireland and abroad. She is co-founder of the weekly Dublin Writers’ Forum and regularly runs literary events across Dublin.
Anne is a contributor to the Poetry Ireland Review Issue 126. Published three times a year, the Review includes the work of both emerging and established Irish and international poets, essayists, critics and visual artists. The issue is available for purchase on the Poetry Ireland website.
