Better a dandelion

"Hot house flower

Ever a pleasant sight

As long as you are careful

and use the proper light.

Changes in temperature

no matter how slight,

are best avoided,

because the reaction can be a fright.

Pleasant conversation

might lead to a beautiful bloom,

yet shouting should be avoided,

for the petals reflect the future doom."

Winding up for the finale,

not many more lines to say,

suddenly I lose the audience,

and my ending is held at bay.

"Flowers."

A voice sobs from the back.

One familiar,

easily recognized by the smoker's hack.

Heads turn toward the bar.

Curious to see

Who these words

have caused such misery.

A lady stands there,

memories of her beauty 

she would like to share.

Knowing nobody cares.

"Pampered, and cared for from day number one.

 My life was one of perfection,

 My wants were none.

 I was only lacking in life's education."

With a sigh,

she turns and starts to walk away.

Muttering under her breath,

yet her words still carry.

"Damn flowers.  

 Even the word causes me pain.

 Better a dandelion,

   one never sheltered from rain."

Confusion spreads through the room,

as she walks out the door.

We all know her,

but cant remember where we have seen her before.

Like my words

She is quickly forgotten.

Yet all I see is the trail of petals,

 lying bruised on the dirty floor.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this is fantastic...you most definitely create a scene of a once perfect flower who was beautiful and had class and somehow went downhill, became the weed that looks good only in a certain light.
Inside she has died...she knows it...she pretends as long as she can, then resigns to what she is...walks out of the bar...and some remember her as she once was....others just look away.
this is so sad...she should still have worth...but many times it is others rather than ourselves who demean us....and cause us to lose our self-esteem.
damn that dirty floor.
this is so good, Jon.
j.

[Jon Roggie]

I had some fun with this one. I was feeling like the poet who lost the entire crowd in a second, and had to come up with something after the third stanza. I blame the detective stories I've been reading for the rest of it.
Thank you, sir.
Jon

[John the Baptist]

Oddly, this one reminded me of one of the poems of Robert W. Service. Maybe it was because the setting is a bar, more likely because of the excellent storytelling skills. The theme is tight, the rhyming excellent, and the last lines end it powerfully. The symbolic linking of the dandelions with the old woman is masterful. Very well done.

[Jon Roggie]

I blame this one on some of the detective novels I have been reading recently. I didn't know where I was going after the third stanza, and wound up with this.
Thank you
Jon