Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Corncockle

Image Source

a flower whose name

is sure to bring a chuckle

at least if you are

the sort whose mind is often

somewhere down in the gutter

~Cie~

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover sez: "That's it, Ornery, I'm declarin' y'all a lost cause! Y'all find one flower with a kinda silly name and yer sittin' there smirkin' like a schoolgirl! Now me, I ain't thinkin' nothin' filthy about this here flower's name. I'm thinkin' this here flower reminds me of corn and roosters, 'cause it's got corn in its name, and roosters say cock-a-doodle-doo."

Visit the Artist

Cactus Clem Sez: "Now, Grover, I don't think it's entirely Ornery's fault. Every time we invite that ole Beavis an' Butthead over fer a poker game, everything seems kinda down an' dirty to me fer a while too!"

Butthead: "Huh huh huh! You said 'cock.'"

Beavis: "Yeah! Yeah! Me too! He said 'cock!'" 

Great news! The plumbing in the Grover Hotel is mostly updated (still a little minor work to do) and the big move-in day is September 6!

Carpe Diem Renga with Jane Reichhold: Reflections from a Dim Lantern in a Dark Mind

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Reflections from a Dim Lantern in a Dark Mind

I

Chinese lantern

the brightness within

a bee

you sting my heart and then leave

stealing the nectar from me

II

barbed wire

the best berry bushes

double-thorned

your love so sweet like berries

comes at the price of my life

III

in foggy moonlight

blackberries float in cream

her nails are blue

such a delusional mind

she could never be pretty

IV

flowers by the door

nameless except for the color

of these blue days

blue fading ever to black

flowers fade in the graveyard

V

late summer grasses

above their roots the seeds

nearly touching

they wind and twine anywhere

not giving a thought to me

VI

sheaves of grass

water that does not break

flows in ripples

a heart broken too often

becomes hard and cold as ice

~Jane & Cie~

Notes:

The hokku (three-line stanza) of these renga were created by Jane Reichhold (1937 -2016). The dark and depressing ageku were penned by me in a dark garret in a depressing town where everyone probably died of the plague.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Sunflower and Foxglove

at this time of year

sunflowers line the roadside

golden soldiers march

too much is toxic

but given in small doses

it can help a heart

~Cie~

Note:

The cardiac medication digitalis is made from the foxglove plant. Patients taking digitalis must be monitored closely for symptoms of toxicity.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Baneberry

Image Source

withstanding extremes

a plant may make its debut

within my garden

~Cie~

Notes:

I am seeking plants suitable for Zone 5. They need to be able to withstand both heat and cold and not be too thirsty. The Baneberry seems like a possible addition.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Cahaba Lily

Image Source

a field of stars grows

in the galactic garden

cahaba lily

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Forget Me Not

Image Source

I have a tattoo
of your name on my deltoid
but even without
I could never forget you
though you couldn't remember

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Weeds

Image Source

I dreamed in my youth

of being a wildflower

I am but a weed

something ever unwanted

in any garden or field

~Cie~

Notes from a Numb Mind:

Sorry, Folks, your girl doesn't do well with love poems on her best day, and I just wasn't feeling the quote today. Have a depressing Tanka instead.

I'm tired and have an approximately 260-mile round trip ahead of me. I already wrote a book review this morning. There ain't much gas left in my tank, but now I need to go put gas in my car's tank. It's an FML kind of day.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Columbine

Image Source

they say columbine

is the flower for my state

I've never seen one

growing in the wild places

on the hills or in the plains

~Cie~

Ghost Town Grover and Cactus Clem wanted to share their poems too!

Please understand that they wouldn't know

A Haiku from the sole of their shoe

Visit the Artist

A Columbine Poem

by

Ghost Town Grover

I might of seen a columbine

When I was working in the mine

Trouble is, I wouldn't know

'Cause I wasn't looking for nothing except for gold!

Visit the Artist

Cactus Clem's Columbine Poem

I might like to see a columbine

But what I really like is to drink wine

I like some beer and whiskey too

But I don't never eat no stew

Eatin' isn't in my plan

But I gotta drink 'cause I'm a Cactus Man 

To follow the adventures of Grover, Cactus Clem, and their friends, and maybe even find some good stuff to buy and support the Grover Hotel renovations, please visit the Good Stuff From Grover blog!

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Milkweed

Image Source

I must remember

plant milkweed in my garden

for the butterflies

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Peony

Image Source

dainty peony

a garden's painted lady

makes a home for ants

dainty peony

ants climbing in the petals

seeking space to rest

a garden's painted lady

something from another time

and at once timeless

makes a home for ants

petals form a cozy bed

hidden from the sun

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Scarlet Pimpernel

Image Source

here and there I seek

but I'm not likely to find

this side of the pond

that certain scarlet-clad chap

frolicking in Yankee fields

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Cornflower

Image Source

cornflower blue eyes

yellow sun surrounding black

pretty rainbow eyes

where have you gone dreaming now

have you become the music

For Gem and Gerry

Notes:

If you prefer poetry without trivia, the bus stops here.

If you enjoy Cie's various ramblings, stick around.

This little trivia blurb was created by me for a trivia post regarding eyes which appear to change color. This is the result of a harmless condition called central heterochromia. This person's eyes were primarily blue, but there was a circle of yellow pigment close to the pupil which caused the eye to appear green or hazel depending on the light. I just thought this was a really interesting phenomenon. 

The person whose eyes were used as an example of this condition is no longer among the land of the living, and I kind of don't feel like talking about that.

Gerry Clifford, the male protagonist in Team Netherworld's longest-running WIP, Fetch, is described by the smitten Pepper Baiij as having rainbow eyes.

Rainbow Eyes is one of my favorite songs. It was written by Ritchie Blackmore and the late Ronnie James Dio.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Honeysuckle

I can remember

the smell of honeysuckle

New Mexico night

~Cie~

Notes:

I recently completed and am about to submit my manuscript for the Insecure Writers' Support Group anthology contest. The genre is middle-grade historical fantasy/action.

I normally write for adults. I find writing for youth extremely challenging. I ended up opting to write a lightly fictionalized autobiography of myself between childhood and my pre-teen years which centered around my imagination and the fantastical fiction genres which inspired me. In writing about myself I ended up opening a lot of pockets of unresolved grief.

The place I lived between the ages of four and nine was a semi-rural pocket in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where people could have small farms and keep chickens and such. We had a very large yard, a half-acre. Unfortunately, the house was in rather a shoddy condition and cockroaches the size of school buses had a tendency to get inside. The bugs are huge in New Mexico, and I was not keen on that. But I did love the little skinks and horned toads and such. We also had many beautiful plants around such as the honeysuckle vines, and the cicadas would sing us to sleep.

I was a very shy child and did not have many friends. The characters I met in fantasy worlds were my friends, as were my pets and the animals in our yard.

Although I was born in the Western United States and raised in the Southwest for a number of years, my parents were both from New York. When certain relatives would visit, they would ridicule my accent. A New Mexico accent is a bit of an off-Texas drawl. To this day, I bristle whenever anyone askes the seemingly innocent question: "where are you from?" To me, that question is loaded.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Yarrow

Image Source

like yellow yarrow

I am plain, scrubby, and rough

my beauty unseen

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #97: Depth of a Flower

Wildflower Bouquet

I

windy weather

calling the flowers by name

each nods

windy weather
inspiring too much thinking 
melancholy thoughts

calling the flowers by name
the flowers in a graveyard
have names of the lost

each nods
no fight when the time has come
blowing away home

II

depth of a flower

flying away with the bee

some mystery

depth of a flower
what hides deep inside beauty
mystery within

flying away with the bee
nectar feeds tomorrow's child
hope for the future

some mystery
can spark curiosity
or can drive one mad

Jane & Cie

Notes:

The "sleighs" of these two Troiku were created by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The Six Horses of the Apocalypse escaped from my unstable stables.

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers: Pretty Posies, Putrid Puns, Silly Scots, and Good Stuff from Grover

Image Source

I canna say I

have seen a Canna Lily

I hope that I can

~Cie~

I'm sorry! Don't PUNish me too severely!

This post inspired by several things silly and/or Scottish in origin.

All three of these bad good boys were born in Scotland. 

Sadly, two out of three of them are no longer of this world.

It wouldnae be Star Trek without Scotty

This really cute fan art was found on Tumblr. I havenae been able to discover the creator. It wasnae me. I can hardly draw stick figures.

Admit it, Lads and Lassies.

School would have been better if Willie had been your school's groundskeeper.

This post made Grover groan

Visit the Artist

"Y'all will never make me admit that I found anything funny about this punny poetry!"

Visit the Artist

And Cactus Clem chuckle.

"Grover, ole pal, y'all can't pull the wool over my eyes. I heard ya chucklin' behind yer hat!"

Follow the adventures of Grover, Cactus Clem and the Punny Old Prune (Cie) plus get updates on the Grover Hotel renovations at the Good Stuff from Grover blog. Y'all might even find yerself something useful in Grover's General Store!

Carpe Diem Field of Flowers 2019: Zinnia

Image Source

I have a feeling

that zinnias will appear

in my new garden

a dainty-looking flower

which thrives in harsh places

~Cie~

Notes:

Those of you who are only interested in the poetry can hop off the bus here.

Those who enjoy trivia and my Grover updates, keep on truckin' with me.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that zinnias thrive in harsh climates. (Wikipedia entry here.) Another fun fact: they are native to scrub and dry grasslands.

Colorado has notoriously awful soil, but I remember my mother growing zinnias in her garden. I have a bad reputation as a plant murderer with a serious black thumb. Zinnias, however, seem like they might be able to withstand me.

Here are some recent images from the Grover Hotel renovation. The awful extension has been successfully removed, along with the back porch which was rotting and barely attached to the house. Our thanks to Northern Colorado Excavating for the assistance in removing this strange structure, which was serving as housing for wasps. Fortunately, no-one got stung.

If you purchase a product using one of the links below, I earn a small commission.