Summertime Arrangement

For years a pot of flowers annually graced my entry. A simple affair of colorful geraniums and some greenery, enough to brighten the stoop.

I miss them, and each spring revisit the idea of flowers on the balcony of our 10th floor condo. It's usually the wind that squelches these schemes.



Summertime Arrangement


A pot of plants watches
from my front stoop,
red and white geraniums
cheerfully waving at passers-by.

They are a happy bunch,
this hardy crew thrown
together for a summer,
root bound for the season.

And now in August
I notice just how close
they have grown: a bloom
of pink peeks from the foliage.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

To Be Blessed

I've returned from a trip to Europe that included the wedding of Andrew's nephew in northern Italy. The bride and groom requested me to write a poem to be read during the ceremony, and that offering is this week's entry.



To Be Blessed
             for Adam and Valeria


To be blessed said the poet
is to pledge one's love
on the verdant shores of Lake Como.

To be blessed said the water
is to ripple with sun-crested waves,
and adapt when they darken.

To be blessed said the foothills
is to flourish under soft, summer skies,
and weather winter winds.

To be blessed said the Alps
is to provide plateaus for lupine,
and allow for valleys of snow.

To be blessed said the sky
is to dust the heavens with magic,
and remain constant behind the tempest.

To be blessed said the parents
is to wake up together, smiling,
even as rain beats against the window.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor