FREE VERSE FRIDAY #5 MAY FLOWERS

I've decided to join Beverly A Baird, Linda Schueler and others in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joins, will be writing a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

In my mind I have a vision of Spring waking up flowers to join in a wild and raucous celebration of the return of the sun.  I started working on it, but it is unwieldy and wants to go on and on. I thought I better prune it down (pun intended) and focus on one aspect of it. 

It's blossom time in my neck of the woods, and it is glorious indeed. Unfortunately this poem kept too kept growing. On my walks I keep noticing flowering shrubs and trees that I had overlooked in my poem. I swear they scowl at me and ask, "Hey, What about me?"

The first time I participated, I didn't quite get the photo part right, so I sent a half decent draft of my poem to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. It was fun and they are keen to continue, so that's what we are doing. 

Randy Rotheisler

oh so lovingly

spring tickles blossoms

from reluctant trees and bushes

forsythia flounces out first, 

leading the parade 

in yellow frills, 

on the wild slopes 

saskatoon branches 

adorn themselves in 

delicate wisps of white corolla

antelope bitterbrush 

burst out in 

halos of cream clusters 

stately dogwood 

announce their presence 

in cascades of four petal splendour  

citrus sweet clusters 

of mock orange 

arrive 

just in time 

for bridal bouquets

in the tamed valley, 

fruit trees explode

in florescence 

apricot arrives

in a fuss of blush  

 

apple, cherry, pear and plum 

hustle bustle around 

arrayed in shades of alabaster  

  

cheeky peach  

preens and pirouettes

in a profusion in pink

in the gardens and yards of local folk

 

crimson camellia 

carry on with the

magnolia cousins,
strutting their stuff
in sprays of white stars  
and marvels of magenta

while lilac arrives
quietly, 

in perfumed panicles 

of delicate florets

blessed indeed 

are we humble creatures 

to witness 

this divine spectacle of

painted fragrance

Ron Peace

Maybe I should have just focused on arrowleaf baslsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata.) The hills glow golden with their flowering these days.