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| Irises by V. VanGogh Painting in the Public Domain, from Wikimedia Commons |
IRIS
When I close my eyes,
I can smell their spice,
see the one white --
"Fire and Ice" --
my mother's pride.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013
From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):
VanGogh had an ear for color
I have an eye for sound
He heard flowers blooming
I see music all around
When rainbow shades collide,
minor chords fall like stars -
he dipped into his palette
I strum on my guitar
And so you sit, wondering,
whether his ear heard what you see
while I keep my eyes open wide
for every note, a melody ...
©Kevin Hodgson, 2013
From Carol (Carol's Corner):
"Iris"
I find them one day
in a brown paper bag
in the teacher's lounge
bumpy white bulbs
withered brown leaves
stringish roots
covered in dry dirt.
A sign on the bag says
IRIS- FREE TO A GOOD HOME.
I am told not to take too many
they will take over my yard
I select ten.
I am not a gardener.
do not know that iris
like to be planted
in mid to late summer
in groups of two or three
four inches down
with nitrogen fertilizer
in half sun.
I throw them in the ground
and forget about them.
The next summer
my paltry efforts
are rewarded
with a rainbow of richness-
kingly purple,
a deep velvety night black,
tawny lion's mane gold
and palest lemon yellow.
All that loveliness
pulled from a brown paper bag
in the teacher's lounge.
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013
Irises
I wait patiently
for the irises:
indigo,
canary yellow,
coral,
to bloom
in the flowerbeds
surrounding my house,
a sign of warmer days,
and a reminder
of my great-grandmother
whose hands first
cared for them.
©Cathy Mere, 2013
The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is
"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations."
I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!
You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.
VanGogh had an ear for color
ReplyDeleteI have an eye for sound
He heard flowers blooming
I see music all around
When rainbow shades collide,
minor chords fall like stars -
he dipped into his palette
I strum on my guitar
And so you sit, wondering,
whether his ear heard what you see
while I keep my eyes open wide
for every note, a melody ...
-Kevin
The podcast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0C8BdY3TmpW
(Could not resist an ear reference but then realized it might make for a nice dichotomy of senses.)
Ha! Love the mixup of ears and eyes. He lopped one, don't you pluck one!
DeleteA fine meditation on the various ways to be inspired.
I saw this and immediately thought of some iris I planted in the yard at the first house I owned.
ReplyDelete"Iris"
I find them one day
in a brown paper bag
in the teacher's lounge
bumpy white bulbs
withered brown leaves
stringish roots
covered in dry dirt.
A sign on the bag says
IRIS- FREE TO A GOOD HOME.
I am told not to take too many
they will take over my yard
I select ten.
I am not a gardener.
do not know that iris
like to be planted
in mid to late summer
in groups of two or three
four inches down
with nitrogen fertilizer
in half sun.
I throw them in the ground
and forget about them.
The next summer
my paltry efforts
are rewarded
with a rainbow of richness-
kingly purple,
a deep velvety night black,
tawny lion's mane gold
and palest lemon yellow.
All that loveliness
pulled from a brown paper bag
in the teacher's lounge.
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013
This poem was one of my hardest. I have so many memories around iris, so much to say about them, that I was paralyzed for hours and hours and pages and pages of drafts. I'm glad yours came quickly today!
DeleteSuch imagery there in the last stanza ... and I love the last lines.
DeleteKevin
One of my favorite blooms - and I can see why you struggled so, Mary Lee, because I have so many memories associated with these as well. I had to checkle at Kevin's "VanGogh had an ear for color" - ghoulish humor! And, Carol's stunning desription:
ReplyDeletea rainbow of richness-
kingly purple,
a deep velvety night black,
tawny lion's mane gold
and palest lemon yellow.
Thank you all!!!
Wonderful iris poems!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, welcome back to Ohio. Hopefully we'll be seeing irises - or flags as my family calls them - soon.
ReplyDeleteIrises
I wait patiently
for the irises:
indigo,
canary yellow,
coral,
to bloom
in the flowerbeds
surrounding my house,
a sign of warmer days,
and a reminder
of my great-grandmother
whose hands first
cared for them.
That "waiting patiently" sounds like the long wait for spring. And I love that connection to your family history, too, through the planting and blooming of flowers. It's a powerful metaphor.
Delete