“After last night’s storm the tulip petals are strewn across the patio where they mortally fluttered.”- Church, Jim Harrison
I keep all my fallen petals
the bruised blooms most would discard
as too damaged for the vase
in the centre of the dining table
where the best silver is used.
No one calls a chrysanthemum whore
for the bee at its core
or whistles when lilac tumbles
between sheets of sedge and foxglove.
They are simply flowers.
Imagine being no less worthy
for want of expectations,
your only driving need
to turn your face towards the sun.
Carol J Forrester 
Wowsers that ending is simply stunning… works for me as a metaphor for how dangerous a simple adoration can be,
Thank you Bjorn. Simple adoration can be dangerous in some cases. It’s easy to forget that it’s the complexities, and imperfections that make something real. Not just the surface beauty.
What a stunning ending Carol.
Thank you Linda.
You’re welcome.
……………….èpetry like this makes me richer, after the read…and after such a read I do sit dazed…line after line, each full, wonderful…I mean…No one calls a chrysanthemum whore
for the bee at its core….who could ever improve on that….a stunning poem..
apologies for the typo..poetry..
Haha, no worries, you can blame it on being dazed with I bask in such wonderful praise. Thank you Ain.
I feel both happy and sad for those discarded petals. Happy they are not being thrown out but sad that they are only loved by one individual.
To be loved fully, even if it’s only by one person, is still a wonderful thing.
So very true. It seems like as the numbers grow the intensity of the love feels like it fades. Maybe it just becomes commonplace.
This is absolutely breathtaking, Carol! I so love these lines; “They are simply flowers. Imagine being no less worthy for want of expectations, your only driving need to turn your face towards the sun.” 💝💝
Thank you.
A beautiful and wistful poem, Carol. Lots of feelings stirred by this one.
Thank you. There was an article on the BBC news app yesterday about hymenoplasty, and I spent a couple of hours fighting with my own fury to try and write a poem. In the end the prompt line opened the poem up for me and I think it works so much better with this direction.
Me too!
I thought I would mention (you might have already spotted) but I’ve started putting up speculative fiction prompts again for 2022. I’m scheduling the February prompt at the moment and the theme is poison.
Oh good, Carol. Those are always so much fun. I’m traveling this week, but will be sure to stop by when I get home. No writing happening right now. 🙂 Have fun!
Aaaah! Carol! This image – honestly, I wish I’d thought of that…
❤
David
Thank you. I’d spent the day fighting with this poem, but the DVersePrompt helped me find the right lens for it, so I’m counting myself lucky that the two meshed so well.
One of your best!
I admire how you used the fallen petals as metaphor. That ending though gave me a twinge of sadness. Good work!
In poetry form, a perfect illustration of how wonderful it is to find beauty in the seemingly disposable. Thank you.
That is the stuff that dreams are made on…
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