After all the thorns and deadly nails
only flowers I ask for.
Let them rise like a flock of fireflies
and descend quietly, in colors that do not offend.
Let them land on the bed like a benevolent foreboding
and cover tender girls
with feathers that do not wound.
Let bread be bought with flowers,
let a man be measured by flowers —
by what grows from the earth,
not by what wounds with the tongue.
Only flowers I ask for in poetry,
at least for a short while, the crystal air
in which one can breathe without shame.
To immerse myself in verse as in an air bath
full of beneficial scents.
Give me, poets, that geranium
from my mother's window,
and the spinner,
and my grandmother's fuchsia.
Give me the defiance that grows from the crack
in the brick in the yard —
for it too knows more about dignity
than a word that defiles.
With flowers I defend myself
from poetic pollution.
With flowers I remind
that the word is home.
-
Author:
Lily of the valley (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: March 28th, 2026 05:57
- Comment from author about the poem: In one European country, a poet received a prestigious literary award, but the public reacted very bitterly because the poet, in his poems and outside of them, advocates pedophilia as a natural inclination. My poem about flowers in poetry is a protest against such "artistic freedom", which does not mean that I am promoting some kind of fanatical puritanism.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 8
- In collections: Chiaroscuro.
Offline)
Comments2
Limits, to be sorted and defined. Not a too difficult issue in that instance.
Thanks for an enlightening piece.
Thank you for your opinion. I agree about boundaries - there must be some.
And the issue produced a poem with some rich imagery.
A deep metaphor here Durdica Beautiful images painted in a flower shield. I live in a culture with present day laws that reflect its values. I recognize that these were not always the same nor are they in other cultures. In western culture years back it was not unheard of to marry in the early teens, girls sometimes as young as thirteen. I my youth I had a friend that married a girl of fourteen when he was seventeen. In the orient child marriages by parental pledge usually not sexual until much latter. I do not advocate child sexuality or abuse but recognize the differences in what is accepted in some cultures and times. Poe himself infatuated with a child cousin. Times have changed. A lovely write about a cultural and personal value that we all have.
Yes, I agree - understandings of sexual customs vary across cultures, but it always remains essential that a relationship must be based on respect, not violence, on tenderness and dignity. Thank you very much for reading and reflecting!
You are most welcome and I could not agree more
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