Tag: daffodils

First Things

It’s Poetry Friday and I hope everyone is well. Thank you Heidi Mordhorst for hosting. I found her list of “Quarantine Questions”from last week’s Poetry Friday a useful way to approach each day. So thank you, Heidi, for that.

“What am I grateful for today?” is the first question on Heidi’s list of Quarantine questions. Today, that answer was easy. I’m grateful that my family is well.

Two days ago, my son, Phil, who lives in Manhattan, called to say he developed a fever, some chest congestion. He rarely gets sick. My husband and I stayed calm but were horrified, imagining he’d get sicker, even though our son is young and healthy. But, of course, that’s no guarantee. Hearing my son had such symptoms was the first time I felt this pandemic in such a scary way.

Fortunately, the following day, which was April first, and coincidentally Phil’s birthday, he felt better and the next day better still. I have to assume he had a mild case of Covid 19; it’s not easy to find out for sure. But it seems he’ll be fine.

I attended to the other things further down on Heidi’s Quarantine Questions list such as exercising, keeping in touch with friends, and trying to create something in spite of the distractions. I made broccoli soup and planned an apple cake for later.

Then, along my driveway, I encountered another first. My first daffodil was in early bloom and it inspired this short poem.

THE FIRST DAFFODIL

Ten others will come,
buttery yellow,
faces krinkled and new,
gregarious fellows.

But one arrived early,
for the week or two stay,
and saved me from waiting
one more lonely day.

© Janice Scully 2020

Thank you for stopping by! Make sure you stop and see what Heidi has in store this Poetry Friday.

Daffodils

Happy Poetry Friday! It’s helpful to the spirit to share poems at a time like this.

Michele Kogan is our host today so stop by her website. You will find not only wonderful spring poetry from the recent issue of Michele Heinrich Barnes’ Today’s Little Ditty, but also Michele Kogan’s paintings full of flowers that are sure to take the sting out of current times.

I love daffodils. Many do, of course. In the early 19th century, William Wordsworth took a walk with his sister in England’s Lake District. There, he was inspired by Wild Daffodils to write one of the most well known poems about this stunning yellow flower ever written in the English language. 

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
by William Wordsworth


I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

                (Read entire poem here)

But even though I love daffodils, I found that I actually didn’t know any facts about them. The scientific name for the wild daffodil is Narcissus Pseudonarcissus. I grows from a bulb but I was unaware that the flower made seeds that can produce a flowering plant within a decade.

Narcissus Pseudonarcissus or Wild Daffodil

I also didn’t know that the bulb and leaves happen to be poisonous. They contain the alkaloid lycorine which causes nausea and GI distress. According to a BBC report a class of 30 primary school children learned this first hand while they made vegetable soup as a class project. Because a daffodil bulb was mistaken for an onion, 12 kids were sent to the hospital. But the story ended happily. None were seriously ill.

The freedom I feel walking outside is irresistable, especially now. Today I spied daffodils breaking the soil.

Daffodils are ubiquitous here in Upstate New York. That’s because deer do not eat them (because their poisonous?) and with so many deer sharing our space, most gardeners plant flowers that won’t tempt them.

It takes some chutzpah, I think, to break through the soil not knowing what waits on the other side. Today it was clear skies for these dependable, brave, yearly visitors to our world. 

Though blind, green shoots crack
muddy soil--What's ahead
courageous flower?

I hope everyone can get outside in a safe place and enjoy the weekend. Thank you Michelle Kogan for hosting!