Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Four O'Clocks






Summer obsession
Creating color
Planting seeds
Black grenade-like
Mirabilis Jalapa,
4 O'Clocks.

Childhood memories
Fragrance so sweet
Blooms sunny
Evenings/mornings
Keep moist and
Well-drained.

Pink, orangeish,
yellow, raspberry red,
white, variegated colors.
Collection of seeds
Next year
What next?


7 comments:

  1. I think you just gave us a beautiful found poem, right? Sounds like a beautiful seed catalog-those things we long for in March, maybe even February. Lovely, Tam.

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  2. I love the pictures. Haven't thought of four o'clocks since I was a child.

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  3. What vibrant colors! Your yard must be an artist's palette of color.

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  4. My Mom always planted four o'clocks every year and those colors are amazing. I loved picking the seeds to plant the next year. Thanks for the memory.

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  5. I like in your last stanza the way you use the colors "orangeish" and "raspberry red" and they both, in their own ways, give me just the right vision. I'm sure it has something to do with specificity and generalization all rolled into just three words. Whatever it is, I like the way it made me get just the right image in my mind.
    Ruth

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  6. I've never heard of "4 o'clocks" but then I'm not a gardner. What a great name for a flower. Do they show their best at that time?

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  7. Tam the photos add so much to the poem. My favorite is the vase with all the tiny flowers in it. So pretty! I can't wait to see what you write about next from the garden!

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