Almost out of dates, out of steam
Running near to tomorrows’ year.
Nights have nudged daylight
Into tight time slots. After the Fall
The herbaceous lie naked
Evergreens persist in modesty.
And resting on laurels awhile
gardeners smile at what abides
inside half-buried bulbs.
Just 44 words for Lisa's quadrille prompt: Abide
PoetryPix 
Oh I love what abides to spring forth once winter has passed.
me too hence this poem emerged!
I like the sounds in the phrase “Nights have nudged daylight / Into tight time slots.” Also, the description of evergreen trees as persistently modest is great!
its such a silent time of year – I guess that is what prompted the sounds! thank you for noticing
This was my favorite part as well — both the rhythm of the words and the idea of ‘nudging’ the day.
This raised a smile with me, reminding me that spring is around the corner if we just abide a while longer…
not quite yet Ingrid – there is the winter through which we must abide like the bulbs under earth
I like your use of idiom, and the internal rhymes. Gives the poem wheels, rushing towards the spring.
many thanks Jane – I really liked the wheels!
A train, not car wheels.
This is breathtakingly beautiful, Laura! 💝 I so love “Evergreens persist in modesty.” Yes! 🙂
thanks Sanaa – we need such modest amounts of green to colour the garden and landscape
So many lovely images, and phrases that made me smile. The modest evergreens. 😀
And the gardeners who are abiding.
abiding in smiling – thank you!
😀
I love the alliteration, allusion, and enjambment you used (had to look at my cheat sheet to remember the terms!) Written by a true gardener, I love your characterizations of:
“The herbaceous lie naked
Evergreens persist in modesty.”
And the smile of what abides.
Wonderful poem, Laura ❤
Goodness did I manage to fit all that in? thank you for the prompt that set it all in motion
You’re very welcome.
I so enjoyed your spring bulb moment, Laura! I love the way the opening lines are slow, like a train blowing its steam as it arrives in a station, and then speed up as your quadrille moves towards the final lines and the thought of spring – it made me smile, just like the gardeners – and the wordplay in:
‘the herbaceous lie naked
Evergreens persist in modesty.
And resting on laurels awhile’.
fabulous feedback – especially the way you joined start and finish as momentum
I love the modest evergreens and who can not savor the promise of spring bulbs.
thanks Bev- in all the wintry nakedness they do look like the modest ones 😉
So much to love here, Laura. I liked the tight time spots, and that use of Fall with its biblical overtones. Lovely.
Sometimes a quadrille seems to pack in far more thatn 44 words’ worth of ideas.
many thanks Sarah – quadrilles are rather like reducing sauce to intensify!
“…what abides in half-buried bulbs…” A GREAT close LB!
thanks Ron – especially as it took me a while to get that right
I like the sense of time in this–encompassing past, present, future all at once. (K)
interesting perspective – thank you
Love this poem!
Exactly how I feel about the short days.
we gardeners notice such things 🙂 x
Wow. I really like this piece. Such beautiful imagery of fading year and seasons.
thank you Arcadia
Well done Laura! Yes, the farmer knows what is in that bulb. My bulbs are having a hard time abiding in the ground and are starting to push through!! They will have to do some serious abiding until spring!
oh dear Dwight – they will get a knock back come the snows
Like us in covid the bulbs seem to hang on till spring. The flowers will freeze tonight according to the weather man!
How beautiful! One thing gardeners know is how to be patient! You captured that concept so well with your words. ❤
something I still have to learn but thanks you Colleen
Oh, me too! Patience is something I’m still working on. 😀
Very beautiful, Laura.
…and what a beautiful moment it is too!
many thanks Marina
“Abide” as a promise. I like this.
There’s more to come, hope for the future, well, that’s what stirred for me.
yes and for me too
Wonderful hope Laura.
No words Laura, love this so much 🙂
those words were enough – many thanks for the appreciation
❤
I love the way you used, ‘abide’, and the internal rhymes are wonderful.