Mom's Ugly Plant ( the Nightblooming Cereus)

How to Join	Member's Area	Private Library	Search	Sanctuary		Login
Main Forums	Discussion	Tech Talk	Mature Content	Archives	A home without a wall, Our haven without ends, A circle we all call Our Family of Friends!

miscellanea
Member Elite

since 2004-06-24

Posts 4060
OH

0 posted 2010-07-07 12:54 PM

     You slept, while I opened to the day,
     Night after night strung to post
     Stems too limp to pose;
     You, with help, stood .   Firm in pot.

Through the phase of moons and heat struck days,
Under blazing rays where I’d not go,
Your straggly leaves,  exposed

I remember asking if, of you, we might dispose!
I was told there’s more to skin, than beauty.

      Your leaves, stretched and tattered,
      Prompted curiosity’s nailing touch,
      Marring with lines, o’s, x’s
      You appeared to me, to be not much.

Each year, more doggedly you displayed yourself
So…  a moniker we set,
“the Ugly Plant  we called you
Without chilling of  regret.

     If I had been that plant
     My life I’d ask to leave the stem;
     But surprisingly, you subsided,
     Tiptoeing a beautiful blossom,
     Stemming from something within.

Your petals now dangle their richness
Of the whitest feathered swan.
Entrapped within your blossom
Humility’s blush has finally won.

And I, I have learned from you
That Beauty is thick within.
Under life’s marring and unsought scarrings,
Remains a duckling’s unblemished skin.

Cpat Hair

Member Patricius

since 2001-06-05

Posts 11793

1 posted 2010-07-07 01:04 PM

(chuckling) I think I was Mom's ugly plant...but everyone is still waiting for me to bloom....

enjoyed ma'am... a moral lesson in one of life's stories... not sure I'll ever make the pretty stage or have petals others admire, but there is always hope as long as there is life.

thought I'd better come back and edit my reply...
make sure you knew I thought the piece is well done. My amusement is at myself, not the writer or the piece..

miscellanea
Member Elite

since 2004-06-24

Posts 4060
OH

2 posted 2010-07-07 01:22 PM

Chucklins right back at ya! Now CPat, I've always pictured you as cute as can be! You stop that down-ratin', ya hear?

If anyone should feel badly, it should be me for playing tic-tac-toe or whatever I wrote on those long, slender leaves. My games showed up as brittle white scars for years it seems. My Mom probably thought I was Blooming-a blooming idiot, that is! Memories... That poor plant! Do you suppose there's a Humane Society for plants?

misce'

Cpat Hair

Member Patricius

since 2001-06-05

Posts 11793

3 posted 2010-07-07 01:25 PM

Hardly what you'd call cute ma'am... but not an ogre either, 'lessn of course, you look too deep inside. LOL

miscellanea
Member Elite

since 2004-06-24

Posts 4060
OH

4 posted 2010-07-07 01:33 PM

Shucks, CPat, you disappoint me. Women love ogres. Just look at Shrek-- We love him. Enuf said.

Have a great day, Silly.

Dark Stranger
Member Patricius

since 2001-03-19

Posts 13631
West Coast

5 posted 2010-07-07 01:48 PM

I went to an ogre once...
was way over dressed it seemed...
the plant work was kewl..
mom had some too that needed (mercy) roundup
but she would never let me

miscellanea
Member Elite

since 2004-06-24

Posts 4060
OH

6 posted 2010-07-07 01:51 PM

Too funny, DS! Round up is not a bad idea, but what's a weed here and there? Really, I don't think I understand your comment the way you may have meant it. After re-reading my poem after your comment, I can possibly see how it might elicit other responses...

[This message has been edited by miscellanea (07-07-2010 02:25 PM).]

miscellanea
Member Elite

since 2004-06-24

Posts 4060
OH

7 posted 2010-07-07 02:19 PM

CPat,
didn't take it that way at all! Laugh, be merry, and by all means, have a good day!
I enjoyed your response...

misce,

bel1e
Senior Member

since 2006-07-24

Posts 1631

8 posted 2010-07-07 03:13 PM

OMG~ I think my Mom still has this plant...it is ugly as sin...

Love the ugly duckling transformation in this, though~~ thouroughly enjoyed the poem and the replies! LOL

write-on, Misce'

Joyce Johnson

Member Rara Avis

since 2001-03-10

Posts 9912
Washington State

9 posted 2010-07-07 03:31 PM

Oh yes there is more to the pot than meets the eye. I have babied some of these ugly ducklings along for years and they can surprise one who is patient. Joyce

jwesley
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-04-30

Posts 7563
Spring, Texas

10 posted 2010-07-07 09:04 PM

Friend gave me one a few months ago - it's putting out new "leaves" all over the place now...waiting for it to bloooooommm.

Nice write...said a bunch...

j.

	⇧ top of page ⇧
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.