“Life is the
flower for which love is the honey.” - Victor Hugo
This week, PoetsUnited gives the following directive:
This week, PoetsUnited gives the following directive:
Begin YOUR poem
with: “A flower was offered to me,”
And I obliged:
The Flower
The Flower
A flower was offered to me,
And I, used to thorns and sticks and stones
and venom,
Accepted it.
A flower was offered to me,
But it was a thorny rose, which cut me deep
And I bled.
A flower was offered to me,
But it was covered in birdlime, and I stuck
fast,
My wings useless.
A flower was offered to me,
But it was made of stone and in its rocky
embrace
I was crushed.
A flower was offered to me,
And I breathed in deep its poisonous aroma
And was forever lost.
I offered back a wreath of flowers,
Sweet primroses, cowslips, fragrant pinks
and daisies,
Innocent blossoms and herbs whose touch
healed
And whose sight cheered and gladdened heart.
And my offering was taken, the flowers
torn,
The fragrant herbs scattered in mud,
My gift defiled, polluted and my true love derided.
A flower was offered to me,
And I, used to thorns and sticks and stones
and venom,
Accepted it,
Not knowing that in expert hands accustomed
to killing,
The lethal weapon can even be but a single
flower …
Wow, that packs a punch I do hope its not autobiographical.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletesure exposes the dark side of flower giving
have a blessed Wednesday
much love...
I like how you put into words what it would be like to receive from someone used to "thorns and sticks and stones and venom," - repetition of the giving adds greatly to the consequences as well as the final devastating lines
ReplyDeleteI agree, there is so much power packed in this poem.
ReplyDeleteWell this does happen to especially lovely people.Take heart, the killers are very damaged and will never know any joy for their entire miserable existence on this earth( which is great!) It bothers them to distraction if they come across someone who has a gift of real joy because they know they can never experience it. Your last two lines are brilliantly insightful....really brilliant !Woohoo...laurel wreaths to the victor...you have won Nick...third finger salute to the vanquished !:)
ReplyDeleteYes, this is the way it happens sometimes. Thankfully, we recover and move on and gather whole armfuls of flowers on our journeys ever after.
ReplyDeleteStrong write! I love where you took this prompt!
ReplyDeleteFlowers should be given in love not with guile. This is a really powerful poem.
ReplyDeleteOuch! Our so attractive poisons, like cash crops and mass production, help for a minute and then drain us of all kindness and health. And how can the innocent ever protect themselves? Your poem offers images of awareness.
ReplyDeleteNicholas, clearly you're an observer of human nature, with its mix of precious flowers and hurtful thorns. You've written something very real here.
ReplyDeleteI really like the opening and closing stanzas.
ReplyDeleteOuch! what a jolt in the last line!...et tu flos?....this is brilliant Nick..love how you explored the given line...
ReplyDeleteOh my - this is so very brilliant - a take on the prompt which in my dark little view couldn't be bettered..as someone who fucks every offering up this conveys that feeling beautifully
ReplyDeleteThat was cruel and very sad indeed. A murderous weapon disguised as a flower.
ReplyDelete