Flowers, Poetry and Life
The Poetry Locksmith is honored to welcome back Donal Mahoney with another fine poem. Like some of his other work here at Eye On Life this one presents us with a bouquet of insights on aspects of love, marriage, and life. Unlike most of his other work this one was accompanied by a story that appears below:
"It finally hit me this spring, when my wife became so wrapped up in Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, that posies kept flying into the house as fast as Japanese vases kept arriving from Japan. Previously, it's only been gardening that has occupied her. I buy a lot of the plants but I stay out of the garden. I just don't have the love for it.
"Nevertheless, I am now a member of the St. Louis Ikebana Society to which I repair for two-hour flower arranging classes maybe three times a month. My job is to carry the buckets of flowers and other appurtenances for my wife into the hall for the class sessions. I must say that I find the people in the class far more interesting than the posies, although Ikebana is to flowers in many ways what haiku is to poetry.
"I spend much of my time there talking to a young Bulgarian man, a recent immigrant, who loves to arrange flowers (he seems to be as straight as Rambo); two older men who have been together as a couple for many years and defy all the stereotypes, and a 93-year-old Japanese woman who was in an internment camp in California during WWII. Her story is magnificent.
"Everyone there is encouraging me to start doing my own arrangements but so far I am not a participant. But I tell you (just don't tell my wife), I think I'd be damn good at Ikebana even if I can't understand spending two hours arranging flowers meticulously only to see them all die in two days. At least with a poem you can find the damn thing years later. You may have an Ikebana Society in your area, and if so, you and/or your wife might find it interesting for reasons far greater than arranging flowers. It's the still ambience of different people with different flowers seeking a common goal--great arrangements that meet the standard.
"The triumphal expression on my wife's face (in the photo) captures the pickle I'm in. She says I took the photo but damned if I can remember doing so. I am very good at remembering what happened in the Sixties and Fifties and the Forties back to WWII but everything from the Seventies forward is somewhat of a blur since I started writing again in 2008. I'm fine in the moment and I guess that's what counts. No dementia yet but if it sets in, maybe I can quit carrying buckets of flowers into the Ikebana sessions--and maybe even start arranging flowers with all the other folks. They are wonderful people who have the uncommon in common and they are quick to share what they know with those who need help getting started. I guess I'm one of them even if I haven't started yet."
Read Donal Mahoney's poem: When My Wife Is in Her Garden