Fran Haley of North Carolina is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 18 of #VerseLove, inspiring us to write a triolet. You can read her full prompt here and see the form for this 8-line short form with rhyme scheme. Fran is a fellow teacher, a bird enthusiast, poet extraordinaire, and she named one of my plants on my front porch: Leafy Jean (which led me to a name for the other plant – Leafy’s brother, Leon Russell – – children both buried in a cemetery Fran visited as a child). Today I am keeping yesterday’s blog writing topic with the Rose of Jericho and changing it to a poem – a triolet!
Choose to Live! Rose of Jericho ~ brittle, brown, dry unfurl your fingers! choose to live! mixed tears of grief and joy I cry Rose of Jericho ~ brittle, brown, dry my gaze drifts heavenward, eyes to the sky reassurance of faith and hope you give Resurrection plant ~ tears green you, oh my! unfurl your fingers! choose to live!
Common Threads 
Kim,
The triolet is a perfect form for the Rose of Jericho. I love the personification in “gingers” and the image of reaching for life. I’m thrilled to see the pictures as they give me a better sense of the plant and the “brittle dry” parts of it. Lovely, too, to see your succulents thriving.
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Thank you, Glenda! I put one out at work yesterday and folks in the office couldn’t get enough of watching this plant come to life! I do think it takes seeing it in real time or pictures to appreciate it!
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You and Margaret both played with a change in the triolet. What a perfect tweak of the form for this unusual little plant.
“Rose of Jericho, brittle, brown, dry” becomes
“Resurrection plant ~ tears green you, oh my!”
Perfect! I love how your fairy gardens are thriving too.
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Denise, a preacher’s kid can’t go without breaking a rule from time to time, even in poetry! Thanks for reading – those fairy gardens are so much fun. I’ve found some special food from Miracle-Gro that I use to feed them, and they stay alive because they love that meal!
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I love every bit of writing and photos here! This plant is really fascinating – totally new to me. I hope you print out your sweet triolet and put it on a card right next to the plant (maybe on a garden stick, in the plant). So dear!
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Thank you, Maureen! I can’t say enough about your photos and triolet yesterday. I think you’ve found a triolet nature writing day or days of the week somehow. What a great way to relax and unwind in nature!
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Your photos are such a bonus. I love your triolet and especially your succulents that are so perfectly named.
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Thanks, Barb! The naming of things is coming to mind a lot lately. I’m feeling a poem brewing but I can’t get my brain around it yet.
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Kim, I so appreciate the accompanying photos here – the transformation of the Jericho flower is just stunning! Makes me think of the word “glorified” and the promises in the Scriptures about all things being made new. It is just breathaking there in your mother’s milk glass. I have a milk glass creamer and sugar set that belonged to Grandma, that matches it 🙂 As for your triolet: it is the perfect extension/sequel to your previous profound poem on why we write poetry. This poem is charged with energy; it is vibrant; it is ALIVE! It sings itself into my heart, where it will stay, crowned with green hope and all promise…utterly gorgeous. Victorious. And lest I forget: My heart is so happy to see Leafy Jean and Leon Russell thriving there under your great love and care (hmm – I may sense the beginnings of a triolet just now!). You impart tremendous warmth and light to everything you encounter. I am so grateful for you and your words, always.
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Thanks, Fran! With the naming of these plants and your naming of the finches, my thoughts are dwelling on the naming of things. How names give us belonging, even sometimes a place in the world and a role.
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Naming is a sacred act. ❤️
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