Lilium lancifolium

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inPoetry, W3 PromptsTags:, , , , , 
vibrant and speckled
trench lily in the wild
burst forth with sweet scent
seek attention and flourish
confident and merciful

This week’s Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt is from Brandon, who asks us to do the following:

  • Now that May has arrived, I’d like you to write a descriptive poem about your favorite flower;
    • Write about its fragrance (if it has one), its look, and/or how it makes you feel;
    • It can also be a metaphor for growth, romance, or renewal;
    • There’s no restriction on form or device.

The tiger lily is my favorite flower, and the tanka is my favorite form, so here we have it! The above image is not my own this time (it comes from “The Lily Garden” website), though we do grow a variety of Asiatic lilies in our front yard. I’ve received quite a few tiger lilies from my husband during various celebrations over the years (graduation with my Master’s degree, finishing cancer treatment…). Perhaps because of these pivotal moments when we’ve brought them into our house, I associate these flowers with rebirth, grace, confidence, and beauty. With a little research this morning, I also learned that both the flowers and bulbs are eaten in Taiwan and that in Buddhism, these lilies symbolize the virtues of mercy and compassion. (If any of my readers are Taiwanese and/or Buddhist and believe that Google lied to me about these things, please let me know.)

It’s about that time of year where we’ll be planting new flowers in our yard and watching the vivid colors light up even the rainy days; I’m looking forward to it! What are your favorite flowers, and what memories do you associate with them?

32 thoughts on “Lilium lancifolium”

  2. I am old enough to remember when carnations had a wonderfully sweet and spicy scent (a bit like a citrusy cinnamon) and that there was perfume that was made from it. Sadly, they didn’t last very long, so nursery leadership have worked on making them last. They did it by sacrificing the scent. So now we have them with no scent. Like the Rose, and many other flowers, these unscented flowers are less desirable to me, and so I will only buy fake flowers now that they are much more realistic than they used to be when the flowers had scents.

    Sad sigh… I still lean over to smell flowers, hoping that the scents are restored. On occasion I find some roses with a very weak scent; but never any carnations. Just for reference: two bouquets of 12 carnations could fill one 20′ x10′ x10′ room with their scent in a warm room of 72°F.

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    1. Wow, I didn’t know that about carnations! That sounds like it would have been a very pleasant scent. We didn’t have many flowers around growing up; my mom associated them with funerals and didn’t really want them around. I’m slowly learning about which ones I like. Some of those we grow outside have a nice scent!

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