Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Tracey Kiff-Judson Here. Thank you, Tracey for hosting! Make sure to pay Tracey’s blog a visit to see what she is sharing this week.
Yesterday, as I was at a coffee shop musing over what to share this week, and also recovering from reading the ongoing news of world events, my friend Catherine showed up with a bouquet of peonies for me. I was thrilled and grateful for her generosity and friendship.
Here they sit on my porch.
PEONY BOUQUET
My friend gave me flowers
she was thinking of me
in early afternoon hours.
My friend gave me flowers
from her backyard bower,
(Also one stubborn ant--but no bees.)
My friend gave me flowers,
she was thinking of me.
© Janice Scully 2024
Many poems are inspired by nature. Sarojini Baidu, was an Indian woman activist and poet (1879-1949). I might have learned of her from a Poetry Friday post, though I don’t recall who introduced me to her poem, JUNE SUNSET. The poem celebrates nature through images that seem so fresh. Here is the first stanza:
JUNE SUNSET
by Sarojini Baidu
Here shall my heart find its haven of calm,
By rush-fringed rivers and rain-fed streams
That glimmer thro’ meadows of lily and palm.
Here shall my soul find its true repose
Under a sunset sky of dreams
Diaphanous, amber and rose.
The air is aglow with the glint and whirl
Of swift wild wings in their homeward flight,
Sapphire, emerald, topaz, and pearl.
Afloat in the evening light.
READ THE REST HERE.
Such amazing words: Rush-fringed rivers, meadows of Lily and palm, dreams, diaphanous, amber, rose, sapphire, emerald, topaz, pearl.
The first line inspired this golden shovel poem.
IN BLOSSOMING NATURE,
A golden shovel poem
“HERE SHALL MY HEART FIND ITS HAVEN OF CALM” Sarojini Naidu
In blossoming nature—here
you shall,
I hope, understand where my
wintering heart
awakes. In May, we find
Peonies and roses. Spring! It’s
a pop-up world, a haven,
of petals white and pink, full of
new but ancient calm.
©Janice Scully 2024
I can’t think of any better way to find joy, than to experience first hand nature and its beauty. That’s why friends bring flowers.
Thank you, Tracy, for hosting, and readers for reading.
I will be away from my computer for the next month, but hope to check in with PF when I can. I plan to take some more pictures like this one below:
Blue Morning Glories, Pacifica California
More beautiful peonies! I love your elegant and heartfelt triolet, Janice. Gorgeous!
Peonies are blooming everywhere. How lovely to receive a bouquet from your friend. Enjoyed “June Sunset” as well as your golden shovel. Thanks for the beauty this week.
Janice, enjoy your time away! I hope you find many beautiful wonders to photograph. The peonies are gorgeous, and your triolet (I think that’s what it is) is so precious with the repetition of “My friend gave me flowers / she was thinking of me.” It’s warm and wonderful. That golden shovel is another beauty; flowers are a great way to bring joy and calm. Thank you for sharing “June Sunset” with all those amazing words and images.
Rose wrote about peonies this week too. I love peonies. And thank you for sharing “rush-fringed rivers” too. Just beautiful.
Peonies abound this week! 😀 Thanks for the loveliness, Janice.
Janice, your choice of poems was just what I needed to read this weekend. Nature fills my heart. I sat outside in the sunshine knowing that my garden became overgrown during May when I was in the hospital for so long. My peonies opened then but that is fine, you shared your gift with me and wrote a lovely poem about the generosity of a friend. Thank you for the poem by Sarojini Naidu. I shall carry her line, “Here shall my soul find its true repose”, while I wander in my front and back yard gardens. Enjoy your time away.
Thanks for your uplifting and heartfelt triolet, lovely—and nature inspired golden shovel, many inspiring blooms here!