Petals strewn and gathered in

Women gather petals strewn
like blessings on the congregation,
bending to retrieve before brute feet
can bruise or trample them -
a small memento, scattered
like confetti in the liturgy.
Perhaps they'll place them
near the family ikons,
tokens of the spring, votives
symbolising resurrection.

A little mound of silky sepals
torn from southern autumn gardens
nestles in my hand,
until I meet another woman's glance.
Her eyes bear true impressions
of the early light on skies and seas,
though she'd be maybe eighty
if a day. There is a freshness
in her gaze that makes me offer
what I've saved - her irises
like two blue islands,
long ago and far away…


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the name of the poem is very beautiful, and in the whole...
I enjoyed it very much thought I didn't understand the main meaning of the poem)
sincerely,
em

Аннет Эм   29.04.2006 21:42     Заявить о нарушении
Dear em, I'm very glad you liked the poem, and thank you for letting me know. The gesture it describes formed part of the Greek Orthodox Easter liturgy, where flower petals are strewn over the congregation in the church on Holy Friday. This also happens in villages and island towns in Greece, when the procession from the church passes under the balconies of houses, and people watching from the balconies sprinkle rosewater and flower petals on those passing below with the symbolic bier and the icons and candles.

Here, in an emigre community on the other side of the world, I was touched by the way the women gathered up the petals as a keepsake, something that had been blessed.

It occurs to me only now as I write that, perhaps purely coincidentally, it was men who scattered the petals from dismembered flowers, and women who gathered them in.

The simple gesture of the women touched me, but I think, too, that it has profounder implications, interesting to reflect on but not so simple to explain.

Thank you again for your appreciation of this poem!

Warmest wishes,
Jena

Jena Woodhouse   30.04.2006 05:29   Заявить о нарушении
Dear Jena, thanks for giving me the history of your poem, it’s really beautiful and touching. I understand now why this ceremony inspired you a lot)

Happy to meet your works,
sinc,
em

Аннет Эм   30.04.2006 22:26   Заявить о нарушении