Deep inside
The soil grew
The smallest bud
With heart as true
This time was not
For show and tell
This time there’d be
No magic spell
No fancy bloom
Distracting eyes
From her spirit
Hear its cries!
A connection was
Now what she sought
Dismissiveness
Was what she fought
There are no petals
Worth a voice
To be ignored
Left her no choice
A little sun
And she will sprout
Even in
The thinnest grout
Inspired by Patrick Jennings Petals on the Ground
I am a scientist by trade and artist by soul. My creative outlet used to be dancing but due to injuries and age, I must now find another path. I am hoping my writing, poetry and photography can be this new path.
Awards: While I am grateful and honored for the numerous nominations, I don’t have time to respond to them with the attention they deserve, so for the most part, I am an award free blog.
All photographs and words are mine unless otherwise credited.
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Dancing Echoes 
June 21, 2016 at 5:31 am
so inspiring this post is…. and that photo has such a unique angle….
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June 21, 2016 at 7:06 am
Thank you Prior!
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June 21, 2016 at 10:11 am
Touching, beautiful, poignant, and also sanguine
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June 21, 2016 at 10:15 am
Thank you Siegling. I am learning to better express my boundaries.
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June 21, 2016 at 1:28 pm
Fascinating. When I first read this, it was in the context of my own poem, Petals on the Ground which is about domestic abuse and the hopelessness battered women feel, how thoroughly their boundaries have been shattered.
So, in that context, I read this as just such a woman finding herself, rising out of her hopelessness and ending the relationship of abuse.
I hadn’t noticed the tags you’ve attached to No Petals.
Same phoenix. Different context. 🙂
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June 21, 2016 at 1:38 pm
Not entirely. This one had many meanings for me. From the father who dismissed me as the girl child to a relationship with physical abuse to yet another one riddled with mental abuse to yet another that went full circle to dismissive again so I am learning to set stricter boundaries in my life. You would think at my age I would have this shit figured out by now….
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June 21, 2016 at 1:58 pm
😉
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June 21, 2016 at 2:08 pm
I went ahead and added some more categories. At 5:00 this morning I wasn’t creating new ones, I just used what I had. I needed the new categories though so thank you for that observation. One category I refuse to use is “victim”. THAT I am not.
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June 21, 2016 at 2:24 pm
<smile> Victim is a word I try to keep out of my vocabulary. I had to double check, but it does not appear in my tags or categories either.
Aside from the many connotations and aspersions it carries for the person the word is applied to, it also sets up concrete dynamics in the relationship between, well, the abuser and the abused, in the case of my poem. When the word becomes a marker for the person who suffered, these dynamics tend to continue long after the crime or wrongdoing was committed.
I was abused. I am not a victim.
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June 21, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Exactly. I guess one of the aspects I was trying to convey is as I age, whether my petals have been knocked off by time or by toxic relationships, my youth and physical attributes become less an issue and I am judged more on my merit and more insistent voice.
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June 21, 2016 at 2:35 pm
Admirably conveyed.
“I’m fresh outta petals, buster. You’re gonna have to take me just as I am.”
😉
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June 21, 2016 at 2:50 pm
Different shit
Different day
Different lessons
Different way
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June 21, 2016 at 2:54 pm
There was a meme the other day, a meme featuring several of the female crew members of the Starship Voyager. The story attached to it was of a girl whose teacher had explained to her that she should leave her aspirations in science in math to the boys who were much better equipped to pursue it. She went home with that, brooded for a bit, then watched an episode or two of the show. “If they can do it, why not me?”
And she became a scientist, anyway.
That meme wasn’t about you, was it? 😉
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June 21, 2016 at 3:09 pm
Hahahaaa!
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June 21, 2016 at 3:10 pm
Probably. I find the best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t.
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June 21, 2016 at 3:13 pm
That is exactly the sass I’ve come to expect from you. A delightful expectation at that.
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June 22, 2016 at 8:47 am
Love this. I can see how Patrick Jennings post inspired you. His was amazing too. Great work.
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June 22, 2016 at 8:47 am
Thank you Lonely.
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June 22, 2016 at 9:01 am
You’re welcome
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July 26, 2016 at 9:49 pm
And thank you too, Lonely. =)
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