Today’s host at http://www.ethicalela.com for the 10th day of #VerseLove2025 is Joanne Emery, who inspires us to look closely at something in nature and write a poem about it. You can read her full prompt here.
I was on my way to Mississippi on Tuesday when I stopped for a memory card and noticed a huge mural proclaiming Greenville as Alabama’s Camellia City. I stopped and looked. I hadn’t thought of camellias in a long time, but my mother had loved them so much. It felt like a hello from Heaven.
Hello from Heaven
two days ago
passing through
Greenville, Alabama
I noticed a mural~
Alabama’s Camellia City
fuchsia petals
and yellow anthers
adorning the corners
and thought of
my mother, who loved them
yesterday
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
I drove past a camellia
bush of these exact colors
and thought again of
my mother, who loved them
this gentle wave from Heaven
to remind me of her
sent me on a quest
to discover more about
the Japan rose
which symbolizes
advancing women’s rights
and is used to make tea
and food seasoning
and to protect the blades
of sharp cutting instruments ~
interesting, but where is the
message from Heaven?
my brother will be at
The Masters, where the
10th Hole is The Camellia Hole
so I will tell him to look for a
sign from our mother there
and perhaps, just perhaps
he’ll see a
Freedom Bell or
Cornish Show, Inspiration,
Royalty, or a Spring Festival
maybe my own message is
here, now, ~ in To Kill a
Mockingbird, Jem destroys
Mrs. Dubose’s garden when
she insults his family but is
later given a bud from the
dying woman who struggled
to overcome her
morphine addiction
and perhaps, just perhaps
this camellia wave is
every assurance that
forgiveness of others
is the work my heart
needs to do
and perhaps, just perhaps
I’ll plant a camellia this spring
to welcome more
hellos from Heaven from
my mother, who loved them
I glance up at the coffee table
in the VRBO where I’m staying
and notice a decorative box
I hadn’t noticed before now
gold-outlined camellias
as if my mother has been
sitting with me as I write this poem
and perhaps, just perhaps
she has
Common Threads 