Today’s prompt was to write a poem based on the language of flowers. For example, yellow roses stand for friendship, white roses for innocence, and red roses for love. In fact, there are as many potential meanings for flowers as there are flowers. The Victorians particularly loved giving each other bouquets that were essentially decoder-rings of meaning. For today, I was challenged to write a poem in which one or more flowers take on specific meanings.
Lost Childhood
You toddle up to me on
chubby little legs, your plump
hands clutching joyful
buttercups and innocent
daisies.
And I wonder if you realise
how in years to come
your childish joy will
disintegrate like yellow
petals and your innocence
become a chain
around your heart.