Who Will We Be?

| Flower Roberts

Tough times are coming for my sweet family.

Inevitable changes are seeping into our lives.

We have fought the good fight. We have done our best.

Every person has his own portion of time.

My daddy’s is ending in his eighty-eighth year here.

I am coming undone at the thought of it.

We have always been we.

My daddy, my mama, my sister and me.

Who will we be?

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Sisters, two peas

He taught me to tie a figure eight knot this week.

I have been tying granny knots my whole life.

“A figure-eight doesn’t come loose like a granny.” daddy says.

Maybe I need to tie a big figure-eight knot around myself.

Maybe I should tie myself to a tomato stake too; so I won’t blow over or break down.

He has been busy building his planes and directing garden maintenance from his chair.

Those planes, that chair, the shop, the garden, the mountains.

He is everywhere. I cannot imagine him not being there.

Who will we be, we three?

I do not want to know, but we shall see.

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Mama and Daddy

Scared Flower

Garden Clowns

| Flower Roberts

I love big, bright, blooming Amaryllis inside during the winter, but they seem comical outside in spring.

These poor Beauty Queens did not ask to be hybridized into showy giants.

‘Monte Carlo’ Amaryllis

They would probably rather be tall, ugly weeds than painted, potted flowers.

But they did not get to make the choice of whether to be wild or tame.

‘Charisma’ Amaryllis

So here they are, comically colorful clowns in the garden.

Too big and too bright to be taken seriously.

‘Minerva’ Amaryllis

Just as man intended, not as nature recommended.

‘Half-and-Half’ Amaryllis

Manipulated for man’s enjoyment.

I am and will continue to be a tall, ugly weed.

(‘Identity’ poem by Julio Naboa Polanco)

 

FLOW

Stay safe, Stay Home, Wear a Mask (even if you are a man)

The Pandemic Pall

| Flower Roberts

The Pandemic Pall has covered us all,

yet the birds still fly in the clear blue sky.

The Pandemic Pall has us filled with gloom,

yet the birds still sing sweetly in the trees.

The Pandemic Pall is creating darkness,

yet the Bluebird still shines bright in the golden sun.

The Pandemic Pall makes us think of death,

yet the birds build their nests to raise their young.

The Pandemic Pall has NOT covered the entire Earth.

It has covered only us humans. (I wish I was a bird!)

It will be removed one day.

When we emerge from underneath this overspread,

Will our new normal be more respectful of the Nature we have previously plundered?

Will we help our hungry brothers and sisters in poverty,

so they do not have to hunt and kill their wild food from the forest?

Will we value the workers who were kept on the job while we stayed safe at home?

Will we have learned the lessons this virus is teaching us?

Our poisons spread to Nature and we spread Nature’s poisons.

We are ALL connected.

Flower

Another Slimy Spring

| Flower Roberts

A visitor sneaked into the bunny yard last night.

I spotted it this morning,  all fluffy and puffy.

It’s the ‘Same Old Slime Mold.’

This is the third spring it has visited this spot.

It must reside under the soil here and emerge when the conditions are right.

I think it is beautiful.

It will not last long. It will be brown and stringy by nightfall.

But for now, I will enjoy this lovely fungal flower.

Flower

 

Mean Beauty

| Flower Roberts

This is a thistle species, not sure which Cirsium it is.

They are usually purple here in North Carolina.

I had to get a closer look at this  crimson beauty, but don’t touch!

I doubt anything can eat these leaves.

By looking at the seeds flying off the top, there will be more in this field for years to come.

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Mean, but beautiful.

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Floral Floor Cloth

| Flower Roberts

I made this floor cloth over two decades ago when my children were small.

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How did I manage it? Why did I attempt such a thing?

I puzzle about things like this now that I am afraid of a pencil.

What made me believe I could make a floor cloth and paint my favorite flowers on it?

I think I get this from my dad. I get an idea and become possessed with it.

I found it folded and smashed under a pile in the workshop last week.

I laid it out on the gravel to examine it.

There were those flowers from gardens past.

The dahlia that disappeared and the Texas Star from my grandmother.

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The prolific Kwanzan daylily  that I should have declined and a Clematis I loved and lost.

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A white gladiola, a yellow Asiatic lily and a blackberry lily.

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A Japanese iris, bracken fern  and some bearded iris.

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Bearded iris, Cecil Brunner rose that got giant,  Bill Troutman poppy and a Sensitive fern.

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And my beloved pink foxglove.

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Maybe I’ll get possessed again and repaint it,

but first I need to get over my fear of colored pencils.

 

FLOW

 

 

Smother Lessons from a Vine

| Flower Roberts

I am a helicopter mother for my plants also.

So I overprotect the rare ones whether they need it or not.

I have had this ‘Blue Crown’ hybrid Passion vine for four years.

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When I finally got multiple starts by cuttings, I decided to risk leaving one outside.

Surprise! It stayed green all winter. The ones inside went dormant.

The ousted vine has climbed all over the fence.

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The two potted clones have finally started to grow.

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The one left out is covered in blooms. The protected ones are just now getting leaves.

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Will I be bringing one in next winter?

Yes. Just in case it gets super cold.  I will keep one stock plant inside.

Sometimes growing things need to be left alone. That includes children.

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