Sunday, October 18, 2015

A TINY FLOWER: Inspiration for a Poem

My inspiration to write a book of poetry came from meeting four special local poets. I felt the excitement in their voices as they spoke of the steps involved in producing individual works for their published book of poetry. I enjoyed hearing them read a selection of the poems live, and listening to their complete recital of the full collection of poetry on compact disc. My full acknowledgement to these poets appears in my own publication:
 

  

 

I wrote these 70 poems as a birthday gift to myself. Over the next 70 Sundays, I will submit each of the poems in the order of composition, along with a short comment about the poem’s style or theme, often including a complementary photograph. (Please see last Sunday’s post which reveals the true inspiration for this book of poetry and a few interesting details about renshi poetry.) 

As my plans for this little book materialized, I decided to open with an occurrence so freshly experienced that it was still "cooling on the rack." (This pie-metaphor foreshadows other pie references in the poems to come. Childhood comfort food sticks with you!) 

Lei draping on King Kamehameha Day
 
The ink for my first poem spilled onto the page after a nice young man of college age walked up to me at a Honolulu bus stop on June 11, 2015, King Kamehameha Day. The young man offered me a tiny yellow blossom. He smiled and said, “A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady.” I’m sure I must have reminded him of his (exceptionally young-looking) great-grandmother. Perhaps he was feeling nostalgic for home. I accepted the flower and smiled back. As he walked away with a light step, I felt he had made the world a brighter place for having shared his joy of life.
 
A Tiny Flower
 
Gold, each tiny petal
unites to form the helmet
of a flower’s bloom.
 
Together, their beauty
like solid sunshine
takes my breath away
 
A kind word, shared
without expectation, forms
a binding link to the universe.
 
Gazes remain fixed
as I board TheBus in silence
and still smiling, take my seat
 
Air brakes lift
We roll forward, and
the universe smiles back.

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3 comments:

  1. Thank you, Shelly. The flower was so small, I couldn't get a close-up focused shot of it though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful! And I love that you wrote it as a birthday gift to yourself.

    ReplyDelete

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