IGWRT's - Ella's Edge "A Tulip's Season"

A Tulip's Season

Springtime's belles
gaily promenade their colors
beside Monticello's
southwest winding walk.

A few bend low,
flirtatiously expose
abundant decolletege,
whilst others preen
slender and tall,
corset-shaped allure enough.

With cherry hued cheeks,
some perform the St. James Bow;
others eagerly display
soft yellow taffeta gowns.

Divine debutantes all,
graciously receive guests
with a "How do you do",
praying not to be deflowered
without a crystal vase
to rest their stems.

Margaret Bednar,  4.6.12

This is for Imaginary Garden With Real Toad's - Ella's Edge.  The challenge is to keep Coco Chanel's following quote in mind when writing a poem "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.  Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."  I am linking a poem I wrote earlier this year, so I know some of you may have already read it.

Thomas Jefferson loved to be outside and surround himself with nature.  He felt the flower beds would limit the variety and number of flowers he might wish to have, so he came up with the idea of an informal "winding walk" with a narrow border (or ribbon beds) of flowers on each side.

Starting in 1808, by 1812 it had become quite a project with ten foot sections, each compartment numbered and planted with different species of flower.   Jefferson did not concern himself with being fashionable and loved the idea of his flower beds being balanced with "the workhouse of nature".

I really enjoyed the naturalness myself, and I love the thought that perennial bulbs continue to flourish 115 years after Jefferson's death.