Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Fear Is the Backbone of Courage


Poetry Thursday has become a traveling show. This week's theme was confronting fear. I chose to look at something other than my own...




Does the fear of not
blooming become a flower’s
reason for a stem?

13 comments:

Mother of Invention said...

Hmmm..awfully thought-provoking for such few words.
Leads to many more questions! Does something have to hold up nothing? Or even the hope of something? Would the job description of a stem change if no buds were ever to form?!
I'm still thinking on this!

Barbara said...

I think the fear of not blooming is fueled by the declining honey bee population.

I can also imagine a plant's fear of not being able to produce because of a drought. It makes me sad to see the withered corn stalks in their parched fields not far from where I live.

I never really thought much about a flower's reason for a stem!

Rambler said...

fear of not blooming is more for the onlookers than the flower itself I guess

Anonymous said...

Poetically it is true but taking the Biology, I am not so sure!

:D

Tumblewords: said...

Hmmm. I have no answer. How did you come up with the question? Smiling. A very nice fear poem and provocative to the nth.

Unknown said...

The fear of blooming comes from the lack of not knowing the roots.

Pauline said...

it's such great fun to toss a question out to you folks. I don't have the answer - I'm not sure there is one that isn't reflective of our own thinking. Would a flower define fear the way we do? Or vice versa? It's interesting to speculate and it made for the requisite 5-7-5 syllables :)

Princess in Galoshes said...

I like the question, but I don't have an answer. I liked Barbara's answer. I'm worried about the honeybee's. I've been trying to use my cell phone less, once I heard there might be a link.

Gill said...

Why yes!
xo
Blue

meggie said...

Goodness! I really dont 'understand' poetry. Though people tell me they like mine.
It is a bit like art, I guess. I know what I like.
I think the stem,
is optional,
as some prefer to bloom,
at a lower level.

Ruth L.~ said...

I can't help thinking that flowers don't fear. They just bloom. Wish it were so for us humans.

Pauline said...

Ah Ruth - but do we really know that flowers don't fear? Perhaps they have a language we simply cannot understand...

Meggie - your comment made me chuckle. You don't need to understand poetry to appreciate it. And like all forms of writing, indeed as in all things, what you like is important. At first, the poem evolved because of the prompt (having to do with fear) and the syllabic constraints (5,7,5). But I liked the question once it was posed. We humans assume so much, often finding upon later research that we were off -base. Have you ever read The Secret Life of Plants?

Flea said...

Was it you who said to me once "you jumped and landed safely"
I like the question, it almost sounds true hey?