Saturday, 29 August 2009

Lavender



she flatters
with ballerinas on sticks
like an adept puppeteer
with an open stage
and a hundred marionettes
each one lifting her skirts
to tempt honeybees
to her nectar

Her left side is stunted
where the frost took her in May
with her skirts around her ankles
and she tries to ignore
the droop of her dress
"look here," she says, "look here!
I have the memory of your mother's wardrobe,
your grandmother's linen,
your childhood dreams"

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Lovely.
Smiles.

Rachel Green said...

Thanks EB :)

Gerald (Ackworth born) said...

I like the layers in this.

Rachel Green said...

Thank you Gerald :)

Unknown said...

Yes. *echoes ackworth born* Very complex and utterly gorgeous.

aims said...

oh my - honeybees to her nectar - like that alot....

BT said...

A lovely poem, taking surprising turns into nostalgia.