The trouble with planting pansies,
she said
in her gray wisdom,
are the holes you find.
They must be filled.
Beseeching faces look up
bright, expectant
tragic in their innocence.
Sweet apology
for brilliant hues
nodding tender understanding.
Agreement with sun
with cold,
frost.
They rave on,
silently cruel
in painful velvet cunning.
Careful,
they hide strength
darker than any
aubergine.

I like this Holly. Especially,

"Beseeching faces look up
bright, expectant
tragic in their innocence."

John

lol I thought this was going to be about something different. As in, the trouble with pansies (guy pansies). If you're interested in my opinion: The trouble with pansies is that you get the urge to beat them up.

I like your version too

Beautiful flowers, Holly. They seemingly grow anywhere, they ARE tough plants.

Les

gray wisdom-file that away in my gray folder, pull it out when when the time is right


Beseeching faces look up
bright, expectant
tragic in their innocence.
Sweet apology
for brilliant hues
nodding tender understandingfunctions

I don't know how one writes like this, I could never do it. How you do that?
How to you translate from a flower to these lines?
One line, maybe two, but five-how you do that?
The rest of the body of the poem. What pictures do you see in your head
when making the lines?

I could not write these lines in a hundred years-glad you can

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2006 01:46AM by jerrygarner7.

The lines 'she said / in her gray wisdom' seem a distraction from the rest of the poem, because they invite the question who 'she' is, which is never answered. Couldn't you delete those lines?

Careful,
they hide strength
darker than any
aubergine.

A striking comparison. Not sure what it means, but it's memorable! 'aubergine' is such a classy word. I'm sure an aubergine would hate to be called an egg-plant.

Thank you John.

Angelia, if you are referring to the gay community, I should think they would be honored to be compared to the pansy. They are incredibly beautiful flowers with a very diverse color scheme. They are also very strong, belieing their somewhat fragile appearance. As for wanting to beat them up, no, I don't want to. I don't hit friends and family members. Thank you for reading, though.

Les, Yes.

Jerry, I see rows and rows and rows of pansies.

Ian, 'She' has to be at the beginning because she started the thought. It's what the old lady told me as she was standing over the million pansies. Thank you for the imput. In my world aubergine is always a color and never a veggie.

Holly

hey holly

you picked a good flower. it always amazes me to see pansies growing near the timberlines in our mountain villages here. so delicate and seemingly fragile, and yet they bloom when no other hardy flower would dare.


Beseeching faces look up
bright, expectant
tragic in their innocence.

those three lines brought tears to my eyes. i understand.

red
mitts

Holly, of course I was going to take the obvious, but my buddy Keep beat me to it. A guy ain't got to be gay (boy has that word changed) to be a pansy. Anyway,, I don't feel like fighting right now, so I'll leave the rest unsaid.

I like the pome.

prefer roses and lilacs personally, but pansies are neat.

I'm so confused.....are we talking nancy-boys or something?

I suppose I could say something about kharma camelias, but nah, too easy a
target. Love the flowers though.


Les

nice work indeed.

Johnnie/red, I've never seen them growing wild. What a sight that must be. I only know garden center or greenhouse variety. thank you for the understanding.


Camus, thank you.

Ma'am,

It hurts me deeply to think that your opinion of me is so low. A pansy is not a gay person. Unless they happen to be happy as well. A pansy is just the generic term (or at least here it is) for a guy who's not so manly.Plus, I have no problem with "gay" people.

And...my comment was only meant to be funny. At least Terry got it.

Sure Keep, I understand you. I thought it was sorta funny.

Let's not tell them next time, ok?

Keep, how you put up with that Letch I'll never know.

What's a "Letch"? Can't find it in any of my dictionaries.


I can put up with Terry for the same reasons that I can put up with anyone. I may seem a bit stupid most times, but I have a great level of understanding. That's one thing I always prayed for as a child. Wisdom and understanding. I think I got the understanding part.

Everyone probably says things that I don't agree with, but that doesn't mean that I can't like them.

Plus, Terry is sorta the reason I stuck around here in the first place. (Yes, blame him.) His poems were the first that I ever read here. I can't help but like him.

'Letch' short for lecherous. I'm not sure he's as lecherous as camus, though.

Well, they both have their moments.

Holly:

Excellent! Vivid descriptions and beautiful phrasing throughout.

Joe

Lovely poem. I really liked "in painful velvet cunning." I've often thought some flowers look like cloth... though, cloth flowers never look like flowers though. Anyway, good job.

And Ms. Keep... I understood what you meant and thought the same thing reading the title. You also beat me to the punch (not punching pansies though) with your comment. Having met plenty of straight nancy-boys (lol Johnny) and plenty of gay wrecking balls, I didn't even think of the stereotype until it was pointed out.

I'm sorry I'm babbly, but I haven't had my 2nd cup of coffee yet.

bump

Another nice bump for ecology, Les....and a fine poem, indeed from Holly.

Joe

ah, such poetry...a wonderful read