spring 2010
DESCRIPTION
photography of spring flowers by M. Elizabeth Tenerelli accompanied by the photographs of TC ConnerTRANSCRIPT
S P R I N G
PhotograPhs By M. ElizabEth tEnErElli
PoEtry By tC ConnEr
Connections
solid circle meaningless round
taken by meadow rue
found
Eternal connections entangled inside
concrete pillars
reside
Broken unbrokens forever told
of roses on pillows
cold
suffocate, aerate ever more sun
beginings are endings
run...
on cover: african Daisy (Osteospermum)
Interpretive urban garden sculpture
Conversation
With A Shadow
shh.
you walk on water,
shading pinks and whites
hiding emersed stony stems.
have you no life
vests for petals?
shh.
Mt. Cuba, Delaware
Orchid
to want otherwise
to look away, objectify
never speak
or if a lie
the color bleeds
its red or gold
taken with a righteous soul
to grow
to hold
not to be left alone
envelop then, a centerpiece
a petal’s glow,
an orchid grown
to hold
orchid (Cattleya)
Hymenoptera (Bee)
It knows
when,
it sees,
hears, feels
rhythms I cannot
feel, cannot see
will not hear, know
not when.
Wings, if only
I had wings
to fly there,
where I could be...
Where? Be?
Bee.
Magnolia (Magnoliaceae)
Thus Sown
gently
your hands
took my roots
deeply embedding them
where new growth
ever expands,
and I
ever bloom
ever more. . .
Lily (Lilium longiflorum)
Oh!
I thought you
were a
flower
walking by
my side
or an evening
shadow ride
or lady slippers
looking for a place
to hide
I never knew
it might still
be you
after all these years
after all these tears
after all these things
that mean so much
disappeared
when spring arrives
I’ll know
when spring arrives
Lady’s slipper orchid (Cyprypedium calceolus)
love’s conception
within a seed
of yesterday
I became
a yellow flower
among the same
of like kind
it matters not
the sower
hearken to vanity
prose of narcissus
shun aroma of
alyssum
take me there
arriving yet forever
tomorrow’s seed may never be
as viable as a lover’s
Daffodil (Amaryllidaceae)
when...
when darknessdanced with lightbecame a flower
petal bright
when shadows sing with fright
became softwhispers in the night
when memoriesreunite
became tearsto heartless slight
when veinsof green or redwith thought of
dying dread
unopened turnedher head
clearly springshe said
trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
Together
Didn’t we take enough
for less is more,we thought
to be one
meant not to be one,so we chose
this single path
you said, then I saidsomething,that was,nothing
tell me what lovetold you,
I heard you cry,I thought
of planting flowersin a black urn
overflowing, withyou and I
Pansies (Violaceae)
As if
surrounded by waves
a purple ocean
crystalline tide
childlike whispers
silence inside
heard only by flowers
listening to cries
of so many petals,
so many fallen petals
unfurling, opening wide
sanctified scarlet
rebirthing in time
Bellflower (Purple campanula)
Pure of Heart
Mind and soulnaked and exposed,
lovers become lonersbecome no onereally knows.
starless night, cloudless sky,why do you
remain?
take the whitenessas the darkness turns
an orchidinto flame.
silent springawakens with hercareless breath,a touch of goldlies waiting on
every flower bed.
she whispers:
“Love can never liveunless it livesin you and I,
eternal and forever,there it never dies.”
White orchid (Cattleya)
There
In your garden I pause
to see what I’ve known
to be true
forever blooming tulips
in ambers and pinks
roses and lavender
mixed aromas with
waves that carry
me across oceans
I believe in
forever blooming tulips
that never need
water or sunshine
unknown is the best
color
of
love
Purple tulip (Liliaceae)
Sensibility
reach out
touch
soft leaves
Come closer
see
tiny petals
Nose in
smell
spring green
What’s that?
hear
buzzing insects
and now
taste
bitterness
Pratia (Lobeliaceae)
Ancient History
Magic flowers tell a mariner’s rhymeon water, cresting orange and white.
“sad endings,”
said his sailing friend,“might only thebeginning be.”
he laughed,then cried,
asking:“Is it I?”
answering,a petal glows
its essence shining bright:
“No, not you nor I.t’is only spring,
where seedlings live,awakened by
his light.”
Plumaria (Plumaria obtusa)
alone
cotton whispers,
echoing
her name
dear diary,
only one
white flower
yesterday’s garden
one
white
flower
Whirlygig Daisy (Osteopermum)
rhododendron (Ericaceae)
Sonnet for Spring
New growth in spring brings to my heart a song,
of birds and bees, of trees and every plant.
I listen as it sings that winter’s gone.
Aromas waft like Gregorian chant.
A seedling poking through to bright sunshine
is stretching forth with two new leaves of green.
I conclude that this new life is sublime,
transcending what I know of earthly schemes.
A gentle rain is washing memories
From the backroads of my mind into view.
I see early blooming lords-and-ladies
Covered with a blanket of morning dew.
A robin chatters from the arbor gate,
Flying down to devour slender ground bait.
M. Elizabeth tenerelli
[email protected] www.metenerelliphotography.com
tC Conner Master gardener
Brochure Design by Joe tenerelli [email protected]
Photographs © 2010 M. Elizabeth Tenerelli Poetry © 2010 TC Conner
