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NaPoWriMo wants to challenge us " to find an idiomatic phrase from a different language or culture, and use it as the jumping-off point for your poem. Here’s are a few lists to help get you started: One, two, three."
I found two such phrases I liked and decided to incorporate them both into my poem.
You have tomatoes on your eyes (German) which means "You are not seeing what everyone else can see."
I see the sun on your back (Kazakh) which translates as "Thank you for being you. I am alive because of your help.”
You Have Tomatoes On Your Eyes
I see the sun on your back,
its mission to coat the day with light.
You anticipate its warmth, shed layers,
break a sweat.
When you began to work this garden
it seemed impossible to break the tangled earth,
yet tiny shoots blundered up too soon,
managed to survive the curiosity of birds,
an unanticipated frost,
to flower, fruit, and feed.
Feed us you will—spirits first, then bodies,
the sky awash with summer
as you pick what will be dinner,
your fingers are lithe as runner beans
and you have tomatoes on your eyes.
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