Tuesday Poem: Worth A Chance

.
WORTH A CHANCE

When I planted Iceland poppies
in the clay
                               of the new section
exposed to the autumn winds
                               it seemed unlikely
they’d survive
                              but they have.

Now another calyx
                              is burst by petals
which
           if left
                             will quickly fall
but if gathered will be replaced
                             by others.

And if the stems are burnt
                            the blooms will last
a little longer
                            in time, new commitments
involvements, but at present
                           a flourish of colour.

Harvey McQueen

A the launch of my anthology of favourite New Zealand poems on Suinday Fiona Kidman chose this early poem of mine to read – it is not in the collection I hasten to add. I only chose one of mine,in the dedication to Anne my wife.

What Fiona did not realise is that it was one of the earliest poems I ever gave to Anne. It arouses memories in both of us. The only problem is that Anne swears that the original I gave her had in the last line ‘a flourish of orange’. .From this vantage I cannot adjudicate. What Fiona read is what is printed in my first collection of poems. All I can say ‘is good  choice Fiona’. And thanks