A BOTANICAL DICTIONARY OF POETIC DEFINITIONS
Part three of three

U is for Umbrella Tree

Umbrella tree noun: Any of several trees of the genus Magnolia of the southeastern United States,
having large leaves clustered in an umbrellalike form
at the ends of the branches.
__________________American Heritage Dictionary - New College Edition


"...like a sweet magnolia tree
my love blossoms tenderly, hey, hey, heeeey.
_________________________________________ Little Stevie Wonder

The Four Winds

WIND of the North,
Wind of the Norland snows,
Wind of the winnowed skies, and sharp, clear stars,—
Blow cold and keen across the naked hills,
And crisp the lowland pools with crystal films,
And blur the casement squares with glittering ice,
But go not near my love.

Wind of the West,
Wind of the few, far clouds,
Wind of the gold and crimson sunset lands,—
Blow fresh and pure across the peaks and plains,
And broaden the blue spaces of the heavens,
And sway the grasses and the mountain pines,
But let my dear one rest.

Wind of the East,
Wind of the sunrise seas,
Wind of the clinging mists and gray, harsh rains,—
Blow moist and chill across the wastes of brine,
And shut the sun out, and the moon and stars,
And lash the boughs against the dripping eaves,
Yet keep thou from my love.

But thou, sweet wind!
Wind of the fragrant South,
Wind from the bowers of jasmine and of rose,—
Over magnolia blooms and lilied lakes
And flowering forests come with dewy wings,
And stir the petals at her feet, and kiss
The low mound where she lies.

___________________________Charles Henry Luders


V is for Violets

lily has a rose
(i have none)
"don't cry dear violet
you may take mine"

"o how how how
could i ever wear it now
when the boy who gave it to
you is the tallest of the boys"

"he'll give me another
if i let him kiss me twice
but my lover has a brother
who is good and kind to all"

"o no no no
let the roses come and go
for kindness and goodness do
not make a fellow tall"

lily has a rose
no rose i've
and losing's less than winning(but
love is more than love)

__________________________ e e cummings


W is for Watermelon

A haiku

Now listen, you watermelons -
if any theves come -
turn into frogs!
__________________________ Issa, 1819


X is for X-Plant

The X-plant

This poem is for those plants that are unknown but extant
This poem is for those plants that are unknown but extinct.
This poem does not decry floral anonymity .
This poem simply provides annex ...and rhymes, I think.

__________________________________unknown

Y is for Yew

To Jean

The yucca's leaves, like bayonets,
Protect the wax-like, fragile flowers.
I would your April beauty thus secure
From hurt of life's thorn-sharpened hours.

___________________________________ Edith Tatum


Z is for Zucchini

Attack of the Squash People

And thus the people every year
in the valley of humid July
did sacrifice themselves
to the long green phallic god
and eat and eat and eat.
They're coming, they're on us,
the long striped gourds, the silky
babies, the hairy adolescents,
the lumpy vast adults
like the trunks of green elephants.
Recite fifty zucchini recipes!

Zucchini tempura; creamed soup;
sauté with olive oil and cumin,
tomatoes, onion; frittata;
casserole of lamb; baked
topped with cheese; marinated;
stuffed; stewed; driven
through the heart like a stake.

Get rid of old friends: they too
have gardens and full trunks.
Look for newcomers: befriend
them in the post office, unload
on them and run. Stop tourists
in the street. Take truckloads
to Boston. Give to your Red Cross.
Beg on the highway: please
take my zucchini, I have a crippled
mother at home with heartburn.

Sneak out before dawn to drop
them in other people's gardens,
in baby buggies at churchdoors.
Shot, smuggling zucchini into
mailboxes, a federal offense.

With a suave reptilian glitter
you bask among your raspy
fronds sudden and huge as
alligators. You give and give
too much, like summer days
limp with heat, thunderstorms
bursting their bags on our heads,
as we salt and freeze and pickle
for the too little to come.

____________________________________Marge Piercy

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