It Must Have Started in May
How long has Rip Van Winkle been sleeping
been drunk on a drenched blue sky?
When did he succumb to the perfumed rich air
fall drowsy into dreams lulled by birdsong?
It must have started on May Day
Maybe there was wine involved
with sun-warmed glasses clinking
bocci balls colliding
and the world driving by in cars
Probably there was poetry
read out loud like incantations
and buzzing bees landing on cheese
I bet he looked like Gulliver
stretched out on the sprawling lawn
after he gave up sitting on his chair
and let his beard grow so long
Maybe he was struck by falling blossoms
or seduced by a flirting swallowtail
I think he stumbled into slumber
was tempted to lie down
by a drifting pillowed cloud
__Colleen Redman___Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads / dVerse Poets
Note: I started writing the above poem on May Day at Villa Appalaccia and finished it (if a poem is ever finished) on my birthday, May 17.
May 19th, 2015 11:25 am
Colleen, this is such a sweet sleep, and around May everyone is tired of the daily routine. school is almost out and everyone dreams of summer and travels under pillow clouds on sprawling lawns.
May 19th, 2015 12:20 pm
I just love this. LOVE “drunk on a drenched blue sky,” as well as the Rip Van Winkle and Gulliver nods. So great.
May 19th, 2015 12:20 pm
And Happy Belated Bday!
May 19th, 2015 12:24 pm
I love the surreal taste of this poem. Would love to listen to it with my eyes closed… Still, I saw the bee on the cheese, and those striking blossoms. 🙂
May 19th, 2015 12:38 pm
Belated birthday wishes to you Colleen. May all your dreams come true. Beautiful writing! Yes, one can stumble into slumber unwittingly!
Hank
May 19th, 2015 12:51 pm
I grew up near the Rip Van Winkle Bridge along with the legends … and I LOVE your poem–its bees on cheese and the slight bit of longing for decadence and rest.
May 19th, 2015 12:52 pm
What an amazing perspective you have given us – both of a well-known literary character and of the month of May. I so enjoyed the read.
May 19th, 2015 12:59 pm
This is such a beautiful poem 😀 belated birthday wishes to you Colleen 😀 Hope you enjoyed your special day!
Lots of love
Sanaa
May 19th, 2015 2:08 pm
I have to admit I had never heard of Rip van Winkle.. but you still gave him such wonderful life here.. If we would just would have that kind of weather I would be drunk on May as well..
May 19th, 2015 4:43 pm
I love how you placed me right into the poem among the sleepy sunshine buzzed afternoon right next to Mr. Winkle 🙂
May 20th, 2015 3:01 am
What lovely possibilities you raise!
May 20th, 2015 5:08 am
May wine — a Reisling? Been so long ago now that I drank any — but this has that early-summer seductive taste and vibe to it, a sleepy softness so it, a gentle pale green breezy lull that puts me in that long bearded-chair as well. Wake me for Halloween. Nice.
May 20th, 2015 3:34 pm
This is absolutely lovely!
May 20th, 2015 7:04 pm
Oh just lovely. I love this.
May 20th, 2015 11:20 pm
[…] 7. It must have started on May Day / Maybe there was wine involved / with sun-warmed glasses clinking / bocci balls colliding / and the world driving by in cars / Probably there was poetry / read out loud like incantations / and buzzing bees landing on cheese … Read more from my latest poem, It Must Have Started in May HERE. […]
May 21st, 2015 4:28 pm
Happy belated Birthday! This is so lovely. It just wraps you up!
May 21st, 2015 5:23 pm
How wonderful & strange that Bjorn in Sweden would be unfamiliar with old Ripper; but it is American literature after all, & I’m sure he could mention myriads of Swedish Lit characters we never heard of. Your piece has a sweet, lilting, dreamy quality to it as it jumps generations & spills out metaphors.
May 21st, 2015 5:41 pm
Jeez, CR, this is freakin GREAT work. All of it, including (& especially): “…Probably there was poetry…” is soporific–in the best possible connotation of that word. Beautiful
Oh, and Happy Birthday!
May 21st, 2015 6:50 pm
Beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the closing stanza.
May 21st, 2015 7:24 pm
Love it! Wouldn’t mind a drifting pillowed cloud passing by now – Zzzzzzzz (Bed shall know me soon!}
Anna :o]
May 21st, 2015 8:10 pm
I so enjoyed this tale of yours and totally relate to “drunk on a drenched blue sky”. May is the perfect time to rise from a too long slumber. The last stanza is killer….lovely and lilting, beguiling.
May 21st, 2015 8:24 pm
I love that “probably there was poetry,” which could easily explain his going to sleep quite deeply if it was too old school and long-winded stuff. 🙂 Peace, Linda
May 21st, 2015 9:30 pm
I have no idea what a bocci ball is…but this was just a pleasing read. Enjoyed it!!
May 22nd, 2015 4:04 am
So much “marvelous” in this–love bocci balls, and stumbled into slumber…
May 22nd, 2015 5:32 am
a happy belated birthday…this is such a delightful read thinking of the possibilities of his stumbling into slumber…
May 22nd, 2015 6:35 am
A Happy belated birthday …I hope it was great. Lovely poem.
May 22nd, 2015 9:51 am
Dreamy, dazed summer days. And we’re entering winter here. Writing from bed!
May 23rd, 2015 12:42 am
Ah Rip Van Winkle.. the hero
of insomniacs snoozing round
the world.. where sleep is life..
and worries.. no longer intrude..:)
May 23rd, 2015 6:38 pm
You created a wonderful atmosphere through your words. Funnily today felt a bit like one of these May days.
May 23rd, 2015 9:13 pm
“been drunk on a drenched blue sky”—this is intoxicating 🙂