Spring has whispered its spell over the barren countryside turning the brown, one green. It has not yet reached the high karst mountain summits, but in the stand of beach cladding the slopes, witness its reaching. Another week, another day, another hour, and there will be a time for such a summit. Now the wild strawberries are in bloom: another month, they will be fruiting. Then the fruit will ripen and we will descend and plunder nature’s store of sweet secrets, for only mouths are we.
Who sings the distant heart which safely exists in the center of all things? The cuckoo. Through the woods, laying her eggs in nests that are for others, surely sings: we hear in it the first true song of spring.
Written for dVerse
Tonight, Sanaa is hosting Prosery, and has asked us to write a short prose piece (144 words or less) featuring this line from Rilke’s poem ‘Heartbeat:’
“Only mouths are we. Who sings the distant heart which safely exists in the center of all things?”
Experiments in Fiction 
This is absolutely stunning, Ingrid! I love the connection to Spring and the ripening fruit as we “descend and plunder nature’s store of sweet secrets, for only mouths are we.”💝💝 A fresh and original perspective on the prompt. Thank you so much for writing :D
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It’s my absolute pleasure Sanaa, I enjoyed it! 💕
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I love the splashes of colour in this piece, Ingrid, especially those implied in the wild strawberries’ blooms and fruit, and the way you split the prompt line and the answer to the question – I haven’t heard the cuckoo yet, despite listening out for it.
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Thanks Kim. I heard one this spring for the first time in 11 years!
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Good one
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Thank you!
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This is lovely, Ingrid! I love the connection to spring, and how it is gradually revealed. I remember you saying recently that you had heard a cuckoo for the first time in years. I don’t think we have cuckoos here.
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Thank you Merril. It is always good to hear their echoing call! Apparently they are absent from ‘the far north and north west of North America.’
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I think the ones found here are different from European cuckoos.
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I love that first promise and how much more bounty that will come… but it’s those first hesitant part of spring that really make my heart leap. I would love myself some wild strawberries, but knowing that they will come make the waiting worth.
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It is a very beautiful time. I don’t think I’ve much of a chance getting those strawberries as surely the locals will harvest them as soon as they are ripe!
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The kind of wild strawberries I know should be picked by children and threaded on straws.
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The name of this piece is so pretty, Ingrid, as are the fresh and clean images your writing brings to my springtime mind!
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Thank you Jaya! All credit to Rilke for the title, and Sanaa for providing it 😊
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I love hearing about nature and how she changes through the seasons. There is such tenderness in your writing for her.
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Luv thus whisper of hope and renewal
Happy Monday
Much💚love
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“Wild Strawberries” is a classic Swedish film by the way. Yours includes the prompt line very artfully. Here in the Pac NW, it’s owls and crows yes, but Cuckoo no.
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The hope that spring (and the cuckoo) brings :)
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tantalizingly sweet … spring, song and secret fruit!
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Such a beautiful welcome of spring with the juiciness that goes with it Ingrid🌷Lovely 💓
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I love how this flowed into the poem – the continuity is flawless.
I could almost taste the strawberries, of “nature’s sweet secrets”.
Wonderful!
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She never fails to impress!❣️ which of course is never her objective💖🌞
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Who, moi? 😂🙏❤️
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💖❤️🤗 yesssum❣️
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Thank you 🍓
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Ingrid – I really love how you used the split quote so well in two different contexts, but both related to springtime. Amazing.
<3
David
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A great story of spring’s return! Well done!
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I am thoroughly enjoying the variety of posts incorporating this prompt. Yours has a delightful poetic rhythm that celebrates the season.
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Beautifully woven! An excellent use of the prompt, but even better, an enchanting story.
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Thank you Susan 😊
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Ingrid, you have outdone yourself, this is so beautiful!
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Thank you Linda 😊
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You tell the story of spring so beautifully here.
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Thank you Xan 🌺
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Brilliant separation of Rilke’s line …. an awesome write.
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Thank you Helen 🙏
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we hear in it the first true song of spring.
It is such a relief to be hearing them and anticipating the strawberries make it satisfying, Ingrid!
Hank
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I agree, it’s a relief after a long winter. Thanks Hank!
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Beautifully written. The subtle description of nature is both fascinating and captivating.
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Thank you kindly!
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So full of the natural world. Lovely. (K)
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Thank you Kerfe.
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I adore how you split the prompt and made it work. The splashes of color, how this flowed, this was a simply gorgeous call for spring, Ingrid.
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Thank you Raivenne!
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This is beautiful and the image of the hills are so vivid it feels like I am there seeing them for myself.
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Thank you! 💙
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