Happy Poetry Friday and Happy Almost Mother’s Day!
I’m sharing some small thoughts for Mom’s and nature…
Elizabeth Steinglass is hosting this weeks Poetry Friday Roundup at her blog ELIZABETH STEINGLASS Poetry for Children and their Grownups, thanks for hosting Liz! Liz has a debut picture book in verse on soccer that’s coming out soon, it’s called SOCCERVERSE POEMS ABOUT SOCCER. Stop by her blog for more poetry goodness and to check out her book!
YOU LONELY, LOVELY ONE…
Does anybody like you,
you’re a flower too.
Like a sun fallen from the sky
skirted in dainty ray florets–
Some cadmium yellow
dance around your middle
while others flash a hint of lime green.
Your jaggedy leaves add an
extra bonus on our salad fairs,
and your light ruby red stems
add an extra flair of savoir-faire.
You’re perfect in each and every way,
a neglected stepchild loaded with
oodles of essential potential.
I’ll only collect a few of you,
a sister, brother, aunt, and uncle,
rap a ribbon round your center,
and tie a tidy bow…
My mother would be so pleased
I didn’t take a tulip, daisy, or rose–
But only you… You lonely, lovely one,
darling dandelion for my
Mother’s Day nosegay!
©2019 Michelle Kogan
I’ve been hunting around for another Mother’s Day poem to share, and on my journey I found this poem Summer at the Orphanage by Laure-Anne Bosselaar. The poem is from my book If Bees Are Few A Hive of Bee Poems. As I couldn’t find it online, to share the rest with you, you’ll have to make a trip to your local library or bookstore to savor the rest, or let your fingers do the walking…
SUMMER AT THE ORPHANAGE
by Laure-Anne Bosselaar
The bee dozes in a lily’s yellow throat. July sighs
over the convent’s garth where an old
linden blooms & bees hover
low –– exhausted by the loads of pollen.
I’m only five, but exhausted too: I know longing’s
weight in my lungs & legs, so I
shelter the bee there, in its buttery abundance,
my shadow a dome over the bloom.
At dust, the chapel bells thorn the air. Swarms
of uniforms flock toward that bronze authority.
I’m alone. The courtyard is empty
& large as absence suddenly –– silent
as my mother, dark as her back & black car as she drove away,
flicking her ashes out the window.
Light dies. I fear the bee might get caught here ––
in this nunnery, like me ––so I stroke its belly from
under the bloom’s throat & lazy, slow, it comes out
golden as mother’s jewelry.
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
and your light ruby red stems
add an extra flair of savoir-faire.
Love those lines. My granddaughter believes dandelions are flowers, and they are in fact, her favorite flowers.
Thanks Kimberly, they make a lovely bouquet!
I took a picture of a beautiful one this week, and it too was “Like a sun fallen from the sky”, Michelle. Your poem is a wonderful celebration of them. They are bee’s first food, so I leave them until other flowers bloom. The 2nd poem, oh my, holds such sadness inside that young one. Happy Mother’s Day to you, hoping it’s a wonderful one for you.
Thanks Linda–interesting that dandelions are bees first food.
Your poem is a lovely tribute, and your art is always amazing!
Thanks Linda!
Love your dandelion poem and watercolor. You’ve elevated the lonely, lovely one to its rightful status. Didn’t Emily Dickinson also like dandelions? 🙂
Thanks Jama–yes she did like dandelions and thought of herself as a dandelion. Here’s an interesting article about her and her garden, the NY Botanical gardens recreated her garden in an exhibit in 2010, wish I had seen it: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127140791
Thanks for the link!
Oh yes, such sweet memories making dandelion bouquets for Mom. Not sure she was terribly fond of the sticky “milk” or the ants that caught a ride, but that’s the price of parenting, no? 😉 When we lived in Australia, it was fallen Frangipani blooms that my children gave me. We’d always have a few floating in a bowl. ❤
The Frangipani blooms sound lovely Michelle, thanks for introducing them to me!
I love your dandelion poem! they are my absolute favorite flower. But we don’t get too many of them here in Florida. I always told my husband that if we lived somewhere else, I’d never spray them so that one day I’d have a whole yard of dandelions!
Thanks–”a whole yard of dandelions!”That’s funny Rebecca, sounds like a good story too!
What memories your poem brings back – I’d always make a bouquet for mom with whatever flowers were available, usually dandelions and Indian paintbrush. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Matt, sounds like a lovely bouquet!
I love dandelions in all their glory! Your poem is a lovely tribute to them.
Thanks Kay!
I am always happy to see dandelions because they are food for bees before everything else is in bloom. Ours are now puff balls, but every bit of their season is pure delight. My 23 month old granddaughter is having quite the time trying to blow on them.
Michelle, I like the way you cradled and crafted simple dandelions into a bouquet drawing and poem. These lines are so sweet and so right for mindful classrooms where every child is a creation of beauty: You’re perfect in each and every way,
a neglected stepchild loaded with
oodles of essential potential. Love the illustration and am rereading the last poem because of its sadness (I fear the bee might get caught here –– in this nunnery, like me) but tenderl (it comes out/golden as mother’s jewelry). Remembering my mother with all that you wrote.
Thanks Carol, SUMMER AT THE ORPHANAGE is a bittersweet poem but so worth savoring. Happy Mother’s Day, and fond memories too.
My sister was just telling me that there’s a movement to stop trying to rid our lawns of dandelions. I gave up on that years ago. They’re magic–so bright and yellow (a sun fallen from the sky!) and then so appealing to blow. Sumer at the Orphanage crushed me with the phrase “only five, but exhausted.”
Heavy, sad, but beautiful in sounds and so rich in woven imagery.
Dandelion bouquets bring back such memories–of my childhood and my children’s. I especially like these lines: “Like a sun fallen from the sky
skirted in dainty ray florets–”
Through the years, I’ve become quite a fan of dandelions and all their stages. The second poem is so tender and painful. I will make myself a note to try to find the rest to read it. The language is lovely, and that third stanza really packs a wallop!
Dandelions seem to stretch far and wide, and have left memorable memories for so many.
Your dandelion bouquet resembles the ones my Kindergarten sweeties often present me with at the end of recess. Sadly, once picked, they don’t hold up well, even in water. Love this buzzing poem, Michelle. The bees are super active in my yard these days, which I am thrilled about. Cheers! — Christie
I lovelovelove your dandelion bouquet! I gave many of those to Mom, back in the day!
Thanks Mary Lee, they seem to have quite a following!
Wow — what an opening line in “Summer at the Orphanage.” It pulled me right in!
And I loved the visual images in your poem, Michelle, especially:
skirted in dainty ray florets–
Some cadmium yellow
dance around your middle