Friday Flowers: A Plethora of Pretties

Fuchsias: Angel Earrings

Some, too fragile for winter winds

The thoughtful grave encloses —

Tenderly tucking them in from frost

Before their feet are cold.

Never the treasures in her nest

The cautious grave exposes,

Building where schoolboy dare not look,

And sportsman is not bold.

This covert have all the children

Early aged, and often cold,

Sparrow, unnoticed by the Father —

Lambs for whom time had not a fold.

--- Emily Dickinson

Winter-Blooming Bergenia

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. We have returned to featuring poems as a part of Friday Flowers. It used to be a favorite of my readers back in the good old days, but I got lazy. So, here we are with poetry and floral pretties.

Friday Flowers: Winter Blooming Bergenia

Bergenia Crassifolia: Winter Blooming Bergenia

The Road and the End
(By Carl Sandburg)

I shall foot it
Down the roadway in the dusk,
Where shapes of hunger wander
And the fugitives of pain go by.
I shall foot it
In the silence of the morning,
See the night slur into dawn,
Hear the slow great winds arise
Where tall trees flank the way
And shoulder toward the sky.

The broken boulders by the road
Shall not commemorate my ruin.
Regret shall be the gravel under foot.
I shall watch for
Slim birds swift of wing
That go where wind and ranks of thunder
Drive the wild processionals of rain.

The dust of the traveled road
Shall touch my hands and face.


Carl Sandburg was born on January 6, 1878. I go through phases from avid enthusiasm and jaded dismissal towards his poetry. For me, his poems are like a beloved but worn article of clothing, which I enjoy wearing but frequently desire to replace with something new and fashionable. Yet, I always come back these poems, like comfort food for the soul. ;-)

Bergenia Crassifolia: Winter Blooming Bergenia

And what of the bergenia? Well, I think that their beauty speaks for itself. After all, it wouldn't be Winter without Winter Blooming Bergenias.