Yellow Chrysanthemums

My mother asked that no cut flowers
be at her wake, so her favorite,
yellow chrysanthemums, in pots, filled the room,
then were put in the September ground.

Eleven years. One remains. Elysium’s November gold.

While writing this poem, I reread Thomas Hardy”s “The Last Chrysanthemum” which contains this stanza:

Why should this flower delay so long
To show its tremulous plumes?
Now is the time of plaintive robin-song,
When flowers are in their tombs.

I thought about using the word “wake” and wondered about the origin of the usage relating to death and funerals. It is from Old English (wōc) and wacian meaning “remain awake, hold a vigil” and the Dutch waken and German wachen, meaning to watch.

I continue to watch and hold a vigil.

Hope in the Harvesting

Before the cold hits, I collect seeds
from fleshy fruit – heirloom tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers –
and annual flowers – petunias, marigolds, zinnias, impatiens.

Hope in these last warm autumn days,
that I’ll be planting again next spring.

Lace of the New World

A snowy border to an August field.
Today’s morning walk at late summer pace.
A queen’s lace, not a common weed.
All this is a matter of perspective.
Unmelting snow on a blue summer day.

Not all things with “Queen Anne” in their name refer to the Queen Anne of 1665–1714. Anne’s great-grandmother, Anne of Denmark, who was the queen consort of King James I of England, lent her name to the theatrical company Queen Anne’s Men, and Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Both queens are credited with lending their name to the plant called Queen Anne’s Lace,

The plant’s scientific name is Daucus carota, and the even less royal common names for the plant are wild carrot, bird’s nest, and bishop’s lace. Queen Anne’s lace is the name used in North America where it was naturalized in what was then called the New World.

Queen Anne’s Lace

An elegant name for what is often
considered a weed. Wild carrot. White flower.
It recalls a runner my mother placed
on the dining room table for holidays.

A red drop from a wine glass.