Ruffled Indigo


A sketch pad’s pages
lay ruffled by the breath
of the March wind.
Art had been forgotten
in the lure of bare toed warmth.

She desired to do more than
simply draw nature….
Be it thorn’s blood letting
or the twisted ivy on the stone wall,
she wanted to feel life against her palms.

Later she would deal with the
stout stemmed foot tapping of Mrs. Shallow
who thought indigo leaves on parchment
were preferred to dirt beneath the fingernails.

Too long she had been housed behind
the walls of Bergamot’s School for Young Women.
Lessons in prim and proper may help her climb a social ladder,
but making daisy chains in a meadow blessed her soul.
  

©Susie Clevenger 2013

At Real Toads we were provided a botanical list of words for our in
sketch, screen, march, snowberry, elder, tawny, bergamot, meadow, ivy, stout-stemmed, cluster, zigzag, shunning, shallow, thorns, sapling, leave, twisted, indigo, adaptations 

Comments

Grace said…
I like the glimpse of warmth and freedom here behind the walls and lessons in prim and proper ~ Good work here Susie ~

Great interview feature at Real Toads ~
Kerry O'Connor said…
I love this, Susie. You have breathed life into your character. Each stanza is beautiful but I especially loved the texture of these lines:

Be it thorn’s blood letting
or the twisted ivy on the stone wall,
she wanted to feel life against her palms.
Maude Lynn said…
What a gorgeous write! I love the name of the school.
Margaret said…
Daisy chains. Just love the ending. Truly a story told in very few words. Quite enchanting.
Sherry Blue Sky said…
I LOVE this snippet of times when they tried to squish us full-bodied creatures into straitened laces.....and we kept bursting out! I love the daisy chains blessing her soul.
Marian said…
what a surprising and pleasing story! somehow i'm picturing a young Emily Dickinson. though she did not attend the Bergamot school for girls :)
De Jackson said…
"she wanted to feel life against her palms"

YES. Goodness, yes. Fantastic.

de
whimsygizmo.wordpress.com
Ellecee said…
Love the lines"she wanted to feel life against her palms" and "making daisy chains in a meadow blessed her soul" A yearning for freedom so nicely painted,,,
Heidi said…
Very cool, Susie. It makes me want to try to start a garden this year. Really vivid images and a good story.
LLM Calling said…
a young girls hopes and dreams, what opportunity for her and fear for her mother