Erica Johnson of Arkansas is our host for Day 7 of #VerseLove 2025. She inspires us to write poems today about meanings behind favorite flowers using a villanelle. She offers this process: “I started by simply searching for the meaning behind my favorite flowers. Once I had a list, I selected my favorite connection and started work on shaping that into a villanelle. Because it is a closed-form poem it has pretty strict rules about rhyme (ABA) and repetition (the 1st and 3rd lines repeat throughout) – this can be challenging, but I find that is also part of the fun!” You can read Erica’s full prompt here.
I chose the Larkspur as my flower, because as a child in the village of St. Simons Island, Georgia, I enjoyed the annual craft fair, where one year in the mid 1970s I got a leather bracelet with my birth flower and name stamped into the leather. Larkspurs symbolize lightheartedness and youth, likely because they grow in the summertime when carefree days are spent away from school.
Village Hippie Villanelle
leather Larkspur bracelet for a July lass
birth month flowers stamped and snapped on thin tan straps
village craft fair hippie, barefoot in the grass
groovy girlfriends ~ running wild, full of sass
softball jerseys, cleats and shorts and backward caps
leather Larkspur bracelet for a July lass
snippy, snappy, clicky clackers ~ spheres of glass
banana seats and wheel spoke straws click and clap
village craft fair hippie, barefoot in the grass
Kissing Potion, Lip Smacker, and Sunjuns (Bass)
macrame and halter tops and treasure maps
leather Larkspur bracelet for a July lass
roller skates and unicycles need no gas
gaucho pants and go-go boots and cowboy chaps
village craft fair hippie, barefoot in the grass
childhood in a decade-era school of class
dancing queens of disco, jazz, ballet, and tap
leather Larkspur bracelet for a July lass
village craft fair hippie, barefoot in the grass
Common Threads 