“When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one”*
willowherb sets its face windward
cornered coloniser of the wasteland
drills seed into dry, virgin dust
an aftermath of fire fringing forest and fen
when missiles misted London gardens in carmine rain
and railways forged wildflower borders of rose
in trails of dragon breath
©Laura Granby
Rosebay Willowherb is London’s official flower – known as Fireweed & Bombweed for obvious reasons
Inspired by the Dverse word prompt ‘rose’ +Quadrille.. 44 words minus the title and opening lines from T.S.Eliot: The Four Quartets
Love this description of how this official London flower drills its seeds into the dust…your picture brings the last line to life…dragon’s breath. It must create quite a sight in bloom around town.
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ubiquitous it may be but always thrilled by these drifts of rose
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Love the imagery and verbiage in this Laura! Well crafted!
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thank you Walter – so many options for this theme it was hard to choose
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Lovely alliteration, and I didn’t know that background of fireweed… it’s actually quite common here too, especially along railroads, and one name in Swedish is Rallarros which translates to Navvy’s Rose I guess… wonderful poem heavy with history.
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Yours is a good name too for this pretty coloniser of disturbed ground – marvellous prompt
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Gosh, this reminds me of my 1970s inner-city childhood, where there were still large gaps of wasteland after World War Two. Rosebay willowherb made these places beautiful. Thank you for evoking this memory so eloquently.
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I remember Freya. Now they grow civilised in city gardens!
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Indeed they do – and on railway embankments with the foxgloves and wild primroses.
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Gorgeous use of alliteration here, Laura!
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It’s a bit of a habit so thank you for appreciating
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The alliteration makes it lovely to read and the history was completely new to me-so that was lovely, too.
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A remarkably pretty marker of disturbance – thank you!
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used in Russia for tea. Such rich stories around this plant.
http://tanyasgarden.blogspot.co.za/2009/07/treasured-weed.html
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So often you add an interesting note to your comments and this is no exception Diana – never imagined something so pink could be edible
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How marvelous to learn more about this beautiful survivor! And the alliteration – most enjoyable in this.
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entitled this the rose at bay because deemed a pest in some parts of the world eg Alaska. Regarded as a native here since remains have been found in pre-historic sites though genepool suggests may have since interbred with an american variety!
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Wow. That is so very interesting!
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A lovely offering specially admiring carmine rain and trails of dragon breath.
Thanks for joining us and wishing you happy week.
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thank you Grace – can’t resist the word carmine!
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Wow! I love learning new things. I don’t think we have fireweed here in PH but I’m starting to love these valiant floret. 🙂
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a nice term for them Maria
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Indeed.. 😊
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There is a haunting quality in tone. Beautifully written!
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thanks for spotting that – was unaware that aspect came through in this quadrille.
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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Really love this, Laura, particularly “trails of dragon breath”
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In the middle of your beautiful posting on a flower that is persistent in its survival you (more than) hint at a virulent war…quite a stunning poem…so enjoyed your masterful creativity.
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what a lovely compliment (blush)
I hope not a virulent future – in the past these wildflowers sprang up in bombsites after the blitz of London
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I hope not too…sigh…
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Such good use of alliteration and, read aloud, the words are just a delight to say.
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I appreciate your words Victoria because poems are for reading aloud – I try not to forget this!
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