“Remember me,”
She said softly.
Her hand held a clover,
Small, round, and white,
Tiny, fragile,
Like this hour soon over.
“Always,” said he.
Did he really?
And would she discover—
Yes! There they are!
Welcoming her,
Fields filled with white clover.
Copyright © 2018 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved
For this week’s Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, host SarahSouthwest broadened our perspective on the symbolism of flowers, particularly with regard to the art and literature of the 19th Century. She gave us a list of flowers and their meanings as well as a link to learn even more. Then she challenged us to choose a single flower, or perhaps an entire bouquet, and write a poem using the flower/bouquet symbolically.
“Remember Me” was my response to the prompt. I used white clover, which means “remember me,” or “think of me,” to portray the remembrance between lovers who are separated for a while and then reunited. Additionally, I chose a poetic form that was named for a flower, the Sweetbriar (which, incidentally, means “poem”).
Scansion:
Sweetbriar ~ an Old World rose, esp. Rosa eglanteria, with stout recurved prickles and white to deep rosy-pink single flowers; also called eglantine; meaning: “poetry”
form created by Viola Berg
written in 2 sestets
Total length: 12 lines
Syllabic structure: 4-4-6-4-4-6, 4-4-6-4-4-6
Rhyme scheme: xxaxxa xxaxxa, where x is unrhymed
Note: I ended up with a rhyme scheme of abcxxc abcxxc, though the rhymes in the first two lines were purely incidental.
Dark Side of the Moon 
What a lovely form! it works so well with this delicate, lyrical little poem – there’s a distinctly Romantic feel to this. It could have been embroidered on a Victorian sampler. I love your use of the flower meaning to add that extra, hidden depth. Thank you for sharing this.
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Thank you, Sarah. What a compliment!
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This was beautiful
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Thank you very much. I appreciate your comment.
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I like how that clover in the field is the answer to the question.
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Thanks. I was thinking about the song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree,” as though he deliberately planted the clover there for a sign for his sweetheart.
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