Naming Lisianthus Gail Hennessy #24

Naming

 

He is an old man lying
prone on a stretcher
in the orthopaedic ward his foot
rigid in plaster his hands clutching
a bouquet of red roses, baby’s
breath and purple lisianthus.

 

I stop to admire and then name
the ‘lissies’, which remind me
of my daughter whose name
is Ruth, not Elizabeth, or Lizzy.

 

He grins at me when I label them
and says there will be no bad
language here, roses are all I know
and, I say, they are my favourites.

 

I fail to mention Eustoma, Prairie
Gentian or Gentianaceae
Lira de San Pedro or Texan bluebell
because I did not know of them
until I began to write this poem
anduse Google to trace their genus.

 

While the flower luxuriates in all
its intricate richness of folded petals
existing totally sufficient to its self.

 

Gail Hennessy  2016.