Day Nineteen #Na/GloPoWriMo

Day 19 Prompt: 

And now for today’s (optional) prompt. The word florilegium refers to a book of botanical illustrations of decorative plants and also a collection of excerpts from other writings.  In her poem, “Florilegium,” Canadian poet Sylvia Legris gathers together many five-lined stanzas that describe flowers but also play with the sounds of their names, their medical (or poisonous) qualities, and historical aspects of herbalism. Today, pick a flower or two (or a whole bouquet, if you like) from this online edition of Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers. Now, write your own poem in which you muse on your selections’ names and meanings. If you’re so inclined, you could even do some outside research into your flowers, and incorporate facts that you learn into your work.

Red

 

Under a shrieking sky

today, kid you not, five blooms

of Hibiscus

the colour of the root chakra

of blood

of Goddess Kali’s tongue—

the solitary stamen aflame like the setting sun

like streetlights talking in tongues

taunting courage to show up

for the blue to enter

the eye

and carry the sky like birds do

on their wings,

how they stitch their impossible

flights

to

pinpricks of human pupils

that watch wars on screens

but keep mum

 

In Tibetan Buddhism,

Hibiscus stands for the importance of perception.

The colours we see can influence reality.

 

Children are murdered every day

under the same boiling sky

where open-mouthed hibiscus

are thirsting

here, we don’t worship Kali

even the scent of her favourite flower

is not enough to cover the stench

of silence