the silence of flowers | Teen Ink

the silence of flowers MAG

May 27, 2010
By thelastclarissa GOLD, Worcester, Massachusetts
thelastclarissa GOLD, Worcester, Massachusetts
16 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. "


his one here is slightly wilted,

is drooping drunkenly and dying
from the center to the petal tips

in varying degrees –
here a perfect petal clashing reluctantly

with a browning one
and throwing the bouquet's color scheme off,

and now you take it and throw the flower away
because pretty sells (out), and replace it with

a fresh flower that smells sweet and
(in the snow) it attracts the eye and looks happy,

but (it cries) in awful silence.


The author's comments:
e.e. cummings is a big influence for me, and lately I've been experimenting more with using alternative grammer to make points. This particular poem isn't too grammatically unusual, but it can be read at least three different ways depending on how you interpret the words in parentheses.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 3 comments.


on Mar. 27 2015 at 7:03 am
SkywithDiamonds BRONZE, Tucson, Arizona
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Living is easy with eyes closed/Misunderstanding all you see/It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out/It doesn't matter much to me"

--"Strawberry Fields Forever", The Beatles

Loved the "Pretty sells (out)" line--using grammar to your advantage is great for taking things to the next level. Super impressive!

on Oct. 24 2011 at 7:09 pm
sweetdollsarah BRONZE, Hemet, California
3 articles 0 photos 33 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Love me or Hate me it's still an obsession." --I don't know who wrote or said this quote got it off a friends school book and it stuck with me. "Pickles!" --I just say this all the time!! "It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." -- Woody Allen

LOVE THIS POEM!!!

Lexie96 GOLD said...
on Oct. 24 2011 at 6:09 am
Lexie96 GOLD, Havana, Illinois
11 articles 0 photos 378 comments

Favorite Quote:
Now Cinderella don't you go to sleep, it's such a bitter form of refuge, oh don't you know the kingdom's under siege, and everbody needs you. - The Killers

That was very good, and I loved the grammar used in it; brought the poem to a whole new level. Do you think you could spare some time to check out my work? Please?