PUMPKIN BLOSSOM (CUCURBITA PEPO)

 

What a beauty greeted me

In my tiny, plastic greenhouse

Vines and blooms and bee-captivating

Gourds planted in April

Holding my breath

They’ll be ripe and ready

For Halloween

Not much folklore available

Although Native Americans and Japanese

Have some nice tales

But I adore gourds

I dry them and make

Maracas

To accompany me

While I scratchily

Sing my joy

And now I have grown one

Don’t know if it will go full term

What with hurricane season here

But hard not to smile

At the bright yellow star

Springing from dirt

Hoping music will soon

Be part of my day

No luthier am I

But proud of growing

A rhythmic addition to my

Earthy life….

 

© 2023 Clarissa Simmens

IMAGES: Squash Blossoms from my Greenhouse