The size of a lemon,
which reminds me of a fruit tree,
miniature,
leaves buttered up and green
as the unripe citruses berried in-between…
and this is much the same,
this slow uncurling as you ripen
my own belly thickening till I peel
off my layers,
test the softness around my middle,
squeeze the fruit flesh.
You feel all this apparently,
spin like a top, end over end
become a flicker in a whirlwind.
Still hidden by your smallness,
little lemon pip blooming.
I’ve missed quite a few DVersePoets night over the past couple of months, and that’s mainly been because I’ve spent all my free time napping. The little Gremlin above is due this summer, and I’ve had all the fun of pregnancy sickness to content with, so my writing took a bit of a hit. My husband and I are very excited to welcome our little human into the world, and I thought what better way to tell my poet friends the news, than with a poem for the Open Link Night!
Carol J Forrester 
A little pip blooming within your womb…..oh Carol, what exciting news!!! I feel like I’m going to be a dVerse grandmother! Think of all the dVerse aunts and uncles this little pip will have! 🙂 I LOVE the comparison with the lemon…”.this slow uncurling as you ripen”. Joyful joyful! A miracle is happening within you. Take your time and enjoy every moment of this pregnancy….well, the morning nausea isn’t so great but when you think about why you’re having it…hey, a few saltine crackers and patting your expanding belly reminds you of the joyful miracle at the end of this journey. Take lots of pics of yourself expanding…we put the camera on a trip pod, set the timer, and took periodic photos over the months of my husband hugging me with his arms round my belly, noting how pretty soon they only went part way around! 🙂 In those days there were no cell phones and we had no idea of whether it would be a boy or a girl.
Oh I LOVE this news!!! So very happy for you! This image is just the best!
“little lemon pip blooming” — we await you! 🙂
Thank you Lillian, for the lovely comment and the wonderful congratulations. I seem to be reaching the turning point with the nausea which is helping things along, and I’ve finally got some energy back so I can think about picking up a pen again.
And you could not have told it better. Welcome back. Keep us posted, eh?
Thank you Ron. I’ll do my best
Congratulations and your poem is a fitting tribute to the tiny child developing within you. Mysterious and biological all in one, especially as the morning sickness and all the other rough stuff give a touch of the body but keep your spirits high as this will be wonderful if hard work. Am enjoying my second grandchild now of 4 months along with the fully linguistic expert of 3 and a half! Doesn’t cease to amaze me.
How wonderful. My husband and I have been gifted with lots of wonderful nieces and nephews so we’re delighted to be adding our own little hellion into the mix.
Oh my gosh 😀 congratulations! 💝 I am so happy for you! This is an incredibly beautiful and heartfelt write.
A very charming and original write, I thought Carol- you caught me off guard here, more than once – boldly effective writing… I’ll be back to see what you come up with next… Regards Scott
Thank you.
What wonderful news and way of relating it!
Oh my goodness! Congratulations! Such wonderful news, and what a wonderful way to tell us all. ❤️
Such lovely news – Congrats to the family!!!! Thank you for sharing the news with us!
There is nothing more precious!
Indeed
Such a lovely way of announcing your baby news. Congratulations indeed!
Thank you
Many congratulations to you with your baby that grows within. I like the idea of the baby hiding like lemons in the foliage. Happy News of the Day ❤
Thank you
Congratulations! This is exciting news, Carol, and your poem is a wonderful way to share it. I hope the pregnancy sickness is subsiding now and you enjoy the following months with your little lemon pip. I love the fruit tree metaphor, the ‘leaves buttered up and green / as the unripe citruses berried in-between’ and the wordplay on ‘peel’. I look forward to your updates. I wonder if your gremlin will be born on or around my birthday.
Thank you Kim. Some time around the end of July is the estimate but with these things you can never be sure.
Oh how beautiful, and congratulations to you! This brought back lots of magical (and a few sickly) memories. I wish I’d been writing poetry back in those days…
I was a too nervous to write poetry about it to begin with, as if the act of doing so would make it less real
Such wonderful news Carol! A huge congratulations, and such a lovely way to tell us.
Thank you Linda
Congratulations!🎊🎉🎈🍾!!!!
What wonderful news… and what a great way to describe it… the metaphor with lemons is really effective… reminds me a bit of the opposite by Louise Glück of not having a child in the poem Mock Orange…
Congratulations. This brought back memories of being pregnant for the first time and the magic of growing a life inside you. You wrote this so beautifully. I agree with Bjorn about the lemon metaphor. Just wonderful.
There is so much depth and power in your writing and I was living through the whole situation and you’ve narrated it very well.
Thank you for sharing this with us, it was a great read.
Wishing you all the very best for your future writings!!
Thank you, I’m glad to hear my poem had so much of an impact 🙂
Wow, I love how you used a lemon and the very nature of how it’s grows to describe your pregnancy and your little bundle of joy, growing inside of you.
It has brightened up my day, and I couldn’t thank you enough for writing it 🌹
Thank you for commenting.
You’re very welcome 🙂