Casualties of Cold

(Cyclamen, purple headed reduced to mush)

butterfly flowers
shielded from sharpest of winds
perish in their beds

even the hardy
succumb to the savage bite
of winter night-frosts

Reviews

[Ayvid N]

When the hardy were perishing, those tender flowers didn't stand a chance. Yet, we always hope they will. This poem speaks to me of a very harsh and biting winter. One that has no place in it for fragile softness or colour. I feel the heartbreak in your words. We all wait eagerly for the winter to end.....Beautiful Haikus, dear Chris!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you DIVYA. I lost all my cyclamen plants on my deck table which is normally fairly protected over one bitterly cold night. They froze solid and then turned to mush on thawing. I also lost a favorite azalea I’ve nurtured for years. Such is life. The garden will remember the past winter well. Many thanks fir your visit. Have a good weekend.

Chris

[Ayvid N]

I know the heartbreak of a much loved plant, dear Chris. Lost three of my precious Christmas trees in a killer summer last year. The loss is conveyed deeply by your words. You're most welcome.

[Relic]

I believe nature talks to us, warns us through the death of flowers, or animals. We too, in some ways, are as fragile and must bloom in the hearts of other human beings before it's too late.

[Chris Shaw]

I agree, nature does speak to us. Not sure we always listen though. Thank you Tim and a very happy new year to you .

Chris

[Red Brick Keshner]

Was is the butterfly or the harsh wind that caused the flower to tremble and whiplash? Savage in its strength and beauty aptly captured in this poem. All the while inside of us our casualties often lay disguised.

[Chris Shaw]

It was the savage cold wind that caused the butterfly petals of this beauty to give up the ghost. We can be so like flowers. Thanks Freds. Hapoy Friday.

Chris

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Chris.. flowers are like babies… they need a Bonnet when it is Cold… Today young Mothers do not bother to cover their babies heads like they did in the 5o’s and 60’s and 70’s. “What’s Up Doc !!! ?…. like in Bugs Bunny. Now only Grannies like me wear Hats always in the Winter…. gently, Pat p.s. Babies and Grannies are very Fragile. tenderly, Pat

[Chris Shaw]

Happy new year dear Pat. You are so right. Flowers need tender loving care much like babies do. They need to be nurtured. Seems the gardener slipped up big time here. Sending love across the waves.

Chris

[Perdition]

Ah..the poet and their wild-eyed mourning of what is for most a subtle tragedy at best! I know that we have the butterfly bush in these parts of North America but not sure about the Cyclamen (a greater sin I do not know than my own ignorance). To hear the sound of your pain in this wonderful poem is to know and feel the slow moan of the butterfly in its weeping for such things as this. Let the winter take as it wishes as the war of spring is near. Still...the way we see such things as poets still amazes me. I hope that everything from the sound of the loss of the preflight caterpillar to the single blade of grass in a stage of dehydration never leaves the breaking of this heart along with "the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to...". Thanks for the reminder... Joseph!

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Joseph, the gardener smiled at your comments and said such is life :)The poet thanks you for your visit :) Happy new year to you.

Chris

[Perdition]

He didn't cut the grass, did he?!! hahaha. You're most welcome!

[W. Barrett Munn]

Your work is getting shorter in the imagism mode - I like it.

Winston

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Winston. It’s good to attempt variety in poetry. Keeps you on your toes.

read moreMany thanks Winston. It’s good to attempt variety in poetry. Keeps you on your toes.

Chris

[Zoe Richardson]

Such a sad, precise piece. My cabbages perished, but they are not particularly beautiful. Such is the lot of a gardener. The efforts are prosaic, the results poetic. And sometimes, the vagaries of nature provide us with inspiration!

[Chris Shaw]

Many thank yous Zoe for your thoughtful comments. Happy new year.

Chris

[Neville]

what a sad little tale, but told so terribly well .. I think bears have got the write idea .. maybe

[Chris Shaw]

I think the gardener messed up here big time. Thank you Neville .

[red93]

More to come in January in the UK apparently Chris. Was this a metaphor for a wider situation ? A telling piece of brevity which resonates beyond its six well chosen lines ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Chris Shaw]

I am appreciating the milder temperatures at the moment Tony. Pleased you saw a metaphor there as well. Happy new year to you. May 2023 be better for you.

Chris

[red93]

Many thanks Chris - and for you also 👍👍👍👍👍

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Only the stronger survive...as the song went.

but even frosts find their victims...just like Covid or other diseases...
we can become defenseless...
j.

[Chris Shaw]

So true dear J. Only the strongest survive. Many thanks for your share and happy new year greetings, winging their way to you my friend.

Chris

[John the Baptist]

Nature is notoriously unsentimental. The winds and the cold just do what they do, with no thought for fragile beauty. The disturbing thing is that there are some people like that, too.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you John. I appreciate all your visits and support. Have a happy and healthy 2023. All the best.

Chris