Lavender

Lavender

Lavender grows by my back door.

The way it smells, makes me want more.

I’d like to plant it everywhere;

yes, share it till it fills the air

with scent so sweet and mauve galore.

There may be those who will abhor,

who find it cloying at their core,

who find it makes them ill, where’re

lavender grows.

Is to love just one scent a bore?

Should I ask of neighbours before

I plant these flowers everywhere?

What if they breathe it in and glare

or roar at me, no more, no more

lavender grows?

This is a light-hearted response to the poetry prompt for Friday, July 13, 2012 from Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads.  They suggest writing a rondeau of 13 lines and a 4 syllable refrain, the first half of the first line, used twice.  The rondeau is arranged in 3 unequal stanzas, usually with two main rhymes, plus a third rhyme in refrain.  It’s supposed to be iambic lines with 4 stresses, but I have not quite captured the iambic cadence in each line.  The rhyme scheme is aabba, aabc, aabbac.  One of the most well-known examples of a rondeau is the poem "In Flanders Fields."

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Summer Whine

Summer Whine

Breathe in lavender

and roses, impossible

with a summer cold.

Sun kisses my skin;

comfort, caress and healing

for fever and ache.

Summer day singing,

leaves chat with the breeze.  I cough,

cough as chipmunks chirr.

I want to exchange:

tissues, lozenges and sneezes

for margaritas.

I want to breathe in summer,

be well and be well.

This is not an earth-moving poem but one which is reflective of my whiny state, of having a summer cold for the second time this summer.   I dream of being well again and enjoying the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of summer, and of writing better when my head is clear.