Poem: "New Beginnings"
Jul. 5th, 2023 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem was written for the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sunshine_challenge. Prompt 2 Gladiolus / Coral Rose. It also fills the "Park / Playground" square in my 7-1-23 card for the Fireworks Bingo fest. It belongs to the series Eloquent Souls.
"New Beginnings"
[Wednesday, July 5, 2023]
Gladys Anderveldt wandered around
the Sappho Singles Social, thoroughly
enjoying herself among all the pretty women.
The decorations were beautiful, too, vases
full of colorful flower arrangements that
Gladys admired with a knowing eye
from her work at a garden center.
She had fun dancing with anyone
and everyone, laughing at their jokes
and complimenting their dresses.
Eventually, Gladys wore out
her feet and drifted toward
the edges of the event.
She saw a young woman
with dark hair buzzed short,
who looked tough except that
she was huddled in a corner
just beyond the soda bar.
Since the woman didn't seem
like she was playing the field,
Gladys sat down and asked,
"So what brings you here?"
"New beginnings," she said.
Startled, Gladys checked
her soulmark, and yes,
the Words that scrolled
above the pink gladiolus
now glimmered with gold.
"I'm Gladys," she said.
"I'm pleased to meet you.
Aren't you going to check
your soulmark too?"
"I'm Rosita," she said.
"You're the tenth person
to ask me what I'm doing
here, and I got tired of
looking down my front."
Gladys noted the coral rose
under Rosita's collarbones,
but no Words were visible.
"That does sound awkward,"
she said. "But look at mine."
She turned her arm so that
Rosita could see the gold.
The younger woman yanked
the collar of her top lower.
In a large arc underneath
the coral rose were the Words,
So what brings you here?
in letters limned with gilding.
"Wow," Rosita said softly. "I'd
kind of given up hope. My Words,
you know, they sound like party things
and I've always felt awkward at events.
So I just ... picked someone, and we
had a really bad breakup a year ago.
Then I came here and I really wanted
to try meeting new people, but I just
flailed as much as ever, and -- and --"
"Why don't we go somewhere quieter?"
Gladys offered. "I work at a garden center.
I've got keys so I can check on the flowers
that bloom at night. Want to help me?"
Rosita looked around the noisy room.
"I would love to," she said, shyly
linking their fingers together.
So they went to the garden center,
and Gladys unlocked the back entrance.
Inside, the grounds were beautiful in
the bright moonlight, show gardens
laid out like little pocket parks,
each one with its own theme.
There was a playground with
sturdy kid-friendly plants.
There was a rose garden,
soundly asleep in the night.
There was a Japanese garden
with a bamboo fountain trickling
into a pool of orange and white fish.
"This is my favorite," Gladys said,
urging Rosita around the corner.
The moon garden had paths of
white gravel leading to a silver ball,
and all around were white gladioli,
yarrow, snow-in-summer, candytuft,
evening primrose, and angel's trumpet.
Moonflowers and sweet peas rambled
over a trellis that sheltered a bench.
They sat down together and watched
the moonflowers slowly unfurl their flowers.
* * *
Notes:
Gladys Anderveldt -- She has fair skin, hazel eyes, and wavy blonde hair to her shoulders. She is short and curvy. She is a lesbian and an extrovert. Her heritage is American; she speaks English. She is 28 years old in 2023.
Gladys works at a garden center. Her soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita Recillos reads, New beginnings, above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open. Rosita's soulmark from Gladys (just below her collarbones) reads, So what brings you here? in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle. They meet at a Sappho Singles Social for women-loving women.
Gladys Anderveldt's soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita Recillos:
(above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open)
New beginnings
Rosita Recillos' soulmark (just below her collarbones) from Gladys Anderveldt
(in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle)
So what brings you here?
Rosita Recillos -- She has olive skin, blue eyes, and dark hair buzzed very short. Her ears are pierced and she likes long dangly earrings. She is tall and slim. She is a lesbian and an introvert. Her heritage is Hispanic-American. She speaks English and Spanish. She is 26 years old in 2023.
Rosita works as a security guard for a large business. It has been a year since a bad breakup. Her soulmark from Gladys Anderveldt (just below her collarbones) reads, So what brings you here? in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle. Gladys' soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita reads, New beginnings, above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open. They meet at a Sappho Singles Social for women-loving women.
Rosita Recillos' soulmark (just below her collarbones) from Gladys Anderveldt
(in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle)
So what brings you here?
Gladys Anderveldt's soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita Recillos:
(above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open)
New beginnings
* * *
A moon garden typically features plants with white, fragrant, and/or night-blooming flowers. It may also have plants with pale foliage, white fixtures, or shiny decorations to catch the moonlight. Learn how to start one.
sunshine_challenge. Prompt 2 Gladiolus / Coral Rose. It also fills the "Park / Playground" square in my 7-1-23 card for the Fireworks Bingo fest. It belongs to the series Eloquent Souls."New Beginnings"
[Wednesday, July 5, 2023]
Gladys Anderveldt wandered around
the Sappho Singles Social, thoroughly
enjoying herself among all the pretty women.
The decorations were beautiful, too, vases
full of colorful flower arrangements that
Gladys admired with a knowing eye
from her work at a garden center.
She had fun dancing with anyone
and everyone, laughing at their jokes
and complimenting their dresses.
Eventually, Gladys wore out
her feet and drifted toward
the edges of the event.
She saw a young woman
with dark hair buzzed short,
who looked tough except that
she was huddled in a corner
just beyond the soda bar.
Since the woman didn't seem
like she was playing the field,
Gladys sat down and asked,
"So what brings you here?"
"New beginnings," she said.
Startled, Gladys checked
her soulmark, and yes,
the Words that scrolled
above the pink gladiolus
now glimmered with gold.
"I'm Gladys," she said.
"I'm pleased to meet you.
Aren't you going to check
your soulmark too?"
"I'm Rosita," she said.
"You're the tenth person
to ask me what I'm doing
here, and I got tired of
looking down my front."
Gladys noted the coral rose
under Rosita's collarbones,
but no Words were visible.
"That does sound awkward,"
she said. "But look at mine."
She turned her arm so that
Rosita could see the gold.
The younger woman yanked
the collar of her top lower.
In a large arc underneath
the coral rose were the Words,
So what brings you here?
in letters limned with gilding.
"Wow," Rosita said softly. "I'd
kind of given up hope. My Words,
you know, they sound like party things
and I've always felt awkward at events.
So I just ... picked someone, and we
had a really bad breakup a year ago.
Then I came here and I really wanted
to try meeting new people, but I just
flailed as much as ever, and -- and --"
"Why don't we go somewhere quieter?"
Gladys offered. "I work at a garden center.
I've got keys so I can check on the flowers
that bloom at night. Want to help me?"
Rosita looked around the noisy room.
"I would love to," she said, shyly
linking their fingers together.
So they went to the garden center,
and Gladys unlocked the back entrance.
Inside, the grounds were beautiful in
the bright moonlight, show gardens
laid out like little pocket parks,
each one with its own theme.
There was a playground with
sturdy kid-friendly plants.
There was a rose garden,
soundly asleep in the night.
There was a Japanese garden
with a bamboo fountain trickling
into a pool of orange and white fish.
"This is my favorite," Gladys said,
urging Rosita around the corner.
The moon garden had paths of
white gravel leading to a silver ball,
and all around were white gladioli,
yarrow, snow-in-summer, candytuft,
evening primrose, and angel's trumpet.
Moonflowers and sweet peas rambled
over a trellis that sheltered a bench.
They sat down together and watched
the moonflowers slowly unfurl their flowers.
* * *
Notes:
Gladys Anderveldt -- She has fair skin, hazel eyes, and wavy blonde hair to her shoulders. She is short and curvy. She is a lesbian and an extrovert. Her heritage is American; she speaks English. She is 28 years old in 2023.
Gladys works at a garden center. Her soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita Recillos reads, New beginnings, above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open. Rosita's soulmark from Gladys (just below her collarbones) reads, So what brings you here? in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle. They meet at a Sappho Singles Social for women-loving women.
Gladys Anderveldt's soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita Recillos:
(above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open)
New beginnings
Rosita Recillos' soulmark (just below her collarbones) from Gladys Anderveldt
(in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle)
So what brings you here?
Rosita Recillos -- She has olive skin, blue eyes, and dark hair buzzed very short. Her ears are pierced and she likes long dangly earrings. She is tall and slim. She is a lesbian and an introvert. Her heritage is Hispanic-American. She speaks English and Spanish. She is 26 years old in 2023.
Rosita works as a security guard for a large business. It has been a year since a bad breakup. Her soulmark from Gladys Anderveldt (just below her collarbones) reads, So what brings you here? in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle. Gladys' soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita reads, New beginnings, above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open. They meet at a Sappho Singles Social for women-loving women.
Rosita Recillos' soulmark (just below her collarbones) from Gladys Anderveldt
(in an arc below a coral rose in a black triangle)
So what brings you here?
Gladys Anderveldt's soulmark (on her left upper arm) from Rosita Recillos:
(above a sprig of pink gladioli just starting to open)
New beginnings
* * *
A moon garden typically features plants with white, fragrant, and/or night-blooming flowers. It may also have plants with pale foliage, white fixtures, or shiny decorations to catch the moonlight. Learn how to start one.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-06 01:55 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2023-07-06 07:06 pm (UTC)Eloquent Souls is a whole series, and I'm aiming to fill all of this year's
>> Beautifully paced, vividly described, reading the whole poem sort of gave me the feel of watching a flower bloom - wonderful, I loved it! Thank you for writing <3
:D That's what I was aiming for.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-06 10:14 pm (UTC)[Lady Liberty, in whose name this nation was founded, some call you The Goddess of Liberty or
Saint Freedom, Liberty Enlightening the World. Step out of your shackles and enlighten us!
Guide and guard us, and shine your light upon us.]
(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-08 05:00 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2023-07-08 06:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-09 01:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-16 10:20 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2023-07-16 10:46 am (UTC)