Violet Queen
Empress of the endosperms
mistress in the chancery of purple,
ruffle-seamed, the violet queen
in her inverted artichoke gown
feeds the wind her bee-stained crown.
Though I've been for years
a wildeyed raving socialist,
I've found I can't cut her down
to see her dead trophy head
spiked in the vase instead.
Let her run while she can
ruinous wild, steal magenta from dawn,
loll wide-eyed bossing butterflies,
secure in a monarchy fitter,
checked only by the
parliament of winter.
~September 2013
posted for real toads
Challenge: Hungry and Haunted
The ever-warm, evergreen Hannah Gosselin asks us to examine the contrasts of Japan's Hitachi Seaside Park, as a starting point for some poetryfying--I wandered a bit offtrack to the zinnias in a backyard in Oklahoma, but hope I have still stumbled into some version of "...contrast and climax ."
Images: ©joyannjones 2013
def let her live wild and free for now...that parliament will take her life soon enough...cool blend of nature and royalty to honor a rather pretty floral lady...reversed artichoke was a pretty good description too...
ReplyDeleteGosh, those first descriptive lines are so so good. Bam! Bam! Bam! One after the other. I love the tension created by the admiration felt by the speaker, despite her antipathy for dictatorship. This is one queen who should be left to reign unchecked by all but the seasons.
ReplyDeleteFreakin' GORGEOUS!! Hedge you blew this challenge out of the water!
ReplyDeleteYour last stanza is exquisite!!
I feel the same way about certain flowers...that to cut and place in a vase would be a disgrace...royal indeed!!
Thank you so much for writing!!
Wicked. Love this.
ReplyDeleteLove the inverted artichoke gown! Also relate to the wild eyed raving socialist! Let's start a Movement! Oh, wait! Has that been done already? I think they call it Occupy Earth!
ReplyDeleteHa - I love that even the Trotsky/Robespierre in you is not willing to cut these beauties down! And the parliament of winter sounds to me like the winter of our discontent. Stealing magenta from the dawn is a beautiful line as is the whole concept here- the spiked trophy heads-- the lolling bossing butterflies - let her eat cake! k.
ReplyDeleteLife among the metaphors! ;_) Thanks, k.
DeleteEmpress of the Endosperms...Love her title. I would rather see her in the garden than in a vase...Such a creative take!
ReplyDeleteThat's right, that flower was born to boss bees and do her own thing, not sit truncated in a vase. I love the way this flows, and of course you know I always love it when you go all natural-world on us.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is stunning! So many amazing descriptions... my poor queens trophy heads were snipped by my husband yesterday and they are in a vase. They were the only flower left by the mailbox that still looked good ... he is preparing to plant mums next weekend. No more bossing bees.
ReplyDeleteReally, you are amazingly imaginative.
Hey wait a minute...
ReplyDeleteShay used the word Parliament now YOU?
I'd better go check in on Mama Zen for the trifecta.
BTW...Your poem was very Regal!
I love the rhythm of this poem - it dances in the breeze.
ReplyDeleteReally outstanding. "...checked only by the Parliament of Winter." I especially love that. Wish I'd thought of it first. :)
ReplyDelete