This is the first limerick I’ve written in over 10 years. I just sat down one night and started writing, and it all just kind of fell out onto the page. It must have been writing itself for a while now.
See first: http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/weed?s=t
“Dandelions Fly”
Get out! She cried as the seedling emerged
Yellow petals wrung tight like a hive-
I’ve no room for you,
And no room for two
And no room for three, four, or five!
I know your kind is unlike the rest
You’ve no grace nor beauty like these,
Your stature is tiny
Your smell – rather piny
And you multiply with far too much ease.
She’s right, thought the bud, in a terrible fret
There’s no place for me around here
Had I known before
That my welcome was sore
I’d have given more heed to my fear.
Before my landing, I was caught in the wind
Flowing to and fro without pause
Tossing and turning
All the while yearning
For a safe place to grow; and a cause.
What I wanted, I found – or so I thought,
The fertile ground helping me grow.
I felt safe and alive;
Like I would survive
And support other flowers I know.
In time I would learn that not everyone sees
My dream of life as ideal
In fact, it’s true –
That some believe
A Dandelion Flower isn’t real.
Dandelions are weeds! she tells me each day,
An unwanted menace, that’s certain.
She had a plan
She declared a ban
In her yard, my kind can’t assert in.
I was sure in that instant – my time had run out,
She charged toward me with her shovel
Petals held high
I decided to spy
In that moment, my courage did double.
I AM A FLOWER! I repeated inside
As she dug at my roots, which did woe me
I know my worth
As does the earth
Other flowers neither above nor below me!
Uprooted was I, right up into that sky
Where so long ago I had floated
That was a dream
Far from the gleam
Of fire in her eye as she gloated.
I caught you early! she exclaimed with delight
Before you infected my garden
But seeing her face
Ended this chase
For my thoughts did transpose and not harden.
I looked at her closely and sighed with the wind,
Gave a slight nod to offer a greeting
I saw her toil,
Long hours in soil
Constant love for her yard, never fleeting.
My intention was never to cause you more pain,
I whispered sincerely, with fervor.
Spite in her mind
Hid that she’s kind
In her heart, no destroyer – but a preserver.
What peculiar petals! She observed right out loud.
Never before had I noticed!
Expression soft,
She still shrugged and scoffed
I prayed she’d look closer — as I did.
Away to the dumpster, she carried me off
Roots dangling; heart refusing to close
Making our way,
She started to sway
And speak aloud – then she froze.
I wonder what little girls see inside you
You’re ugly, you’re different, you’re bad
But then again,
I remember when
As a child, I loved you a tad.
What my own mother saw as a menacing plague
Were magical wishes in my view
Fields of flowers
Gave me hours
To laugh, play, and dream; love and prize you.
I wove you with others to wear as a crown
Your presence did always feel royal.
Easily found,
Dandelions abound.
Back then, you were dependable and loyal.
From yellow to white and from flower to flight
My wishes you carried too freely
A house, a yard,
Landscape unmarred
By foreigners – you gave me this; really.
Now what does one do in a quibble; a mess
When a heart and a mind are discordant?
Toss you to your doom?
Allow you to bloom?
Love? Hate? Ignore? Unimportant?
Dandelions Fly 