With thanks to Myfanwy Fox for sharing a photo and a fascinating article about a carnivorous plant on Facebook.
Sundew
Photo from National Geographic
Sundew
DroPlets
SwEEt secrEtions
Sundew eNsNares insects
Leaves with minusCule proJections
STicKy
Polly Robinson © 2013
Written to Tony Maude‘s inspiring prompt to write a cinquain, a five-line poem with twenty-two syllables laid out two, four, six, eight, then two again. at dVerse Poets Form for All – The Cinquain
15/03/2013 at 08:59
I like the way your capital letters seem to mirror the forms in the picture! I’ve got a thing about dewdrops, sundew, honeydew… it must stem from that immortal line ‘for he on honeydew hath fed/and drunk the milk of paradise’ – which to me is about creative inspiration everywhere.
15/03/2013 at 09:03
Ahhhh … Kubla Khan … wonderful, an unforgetable line. I found out a few days back that we have the great-great-great-great-great nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge living locally [or, at least, he has a weekend home nearby].
Thanks for your comment Marina, glad you enjoyed it.
15/03/2013 at 09:53
Oh those drops for the insects so tempting, yet deadly
15/03/2013 at 09:57
So true, Bjorn, lethal.
Thanks for visiting and for your comment.
15/03/2013 at 10:22
kinda scary huh…the sweet secretions drawing you in and then wham…
ha. the upper case lower case made me read this really slow….
15/03/2013 at 10:26
Interesting that the change of case leads to a change of pace
15/03/2013 at 10:32
Ooh, well done. I love the style of this piece.
15/03/2013 at 10:38
Thank you Jesse, glad you like it. Seemed to fit the subject.
Good to see you
15/03/2013 at 10:47
I really enjoyed this! Wonderful word play with the subject!
15/03/2013 at 10:54
Thanks Mary, I enjoyed your jolly good kick at the ice, too
15/03/2013 at 10:59
Nicely done Polly! Fascinating things aren’t they.
15/03/2013 at 11:07
Horribly fascinating Joe
15/03/2013 at 11:01
Nice blog Polly!!!! I’m following you!!! A big kiss from Italy!!!
15/03/2013 at 11:10
Thank you Simona, I like your blog too
x
15/03/2013 at 12:46
Very interesting plant, and a nice poem to describe it. Cool post, Polly!
15/03/2013 at 12:50
Thanks Charles, it looks quite quite beautiful, but is clearly one of the most lethal
15/03/2013 at 12:52
the piece of poetry as unusual as the pic… nice
15/03/2013 at 12:56
Thanks Patricia ~ stunning plant ‘eh?
15/03/2013 at 12:54
Perfect match here, Polly… the caps and projections.
15/03/2013 at 12:57
Thanks Laurie, they seem to go together well
15/03/2013 at 14:45
Love the picture, love the poem, love the wordplay and the poetic devices you’ve managed to tuck into just 5 short lines. Beautiful, Polly – unless you’re an insect, I guess
16/03/2013 at 02:33
heh-heh ‘unless you’re an insect’
Lovely to see your comments, Tony, thanks again for the prompt.
15/03/2013 at 15:11
I have always been fascinated by this plant. This, and those pitcher plants.
16/03/2013 at 02:35
I know the ones, Susan. They seem more subtle than the Venus Fly Trap (!)
16/03/2013 at 04:50
Just a bit
15/03/2013 at 17:06
i like how you slow us down by using caps…cool wordplay as well..
16/03/2013 at 02:36
Thanks Claudia
15/03/2013 at 17:30
Very cool. k.
16/03/2013 at 02:36
Cheers k.
15/03/2013 at 20:40
Really liked how you paced the reading of the poem with the use of capital letters – a great theme too.
16/03/2013 at 02:37
Good to see you enjoyed it Rowan. Welcome to my blog.
15/03/2013 at 21:06
A science poem exemplar ! I swear, we ought to collect science poems for kids. Great write.
My daughter is thinking about getting a venus fly trap. I had never heard of Drosera (sundews) — I can’t believe I don’t know about this little blood thirsty fellow. Apparently they exist in North America. Wow. But apparently they are on the endangered list in several states — probably cause little elementary girls love horror plants — or is only my gal like that?
Or maybe the greedy herbalists have wiped them out. Thanx for the intro !!
16/03/2013 at 02:40
I confess it was the photo that first caught my attention, but when I read more of them the poem came about.
Good to see your interest in it Sabio
16/03/2013 at 05:43
Polly, I loved the prompt – how Tony taught us about things to avoid, like cramming syllables to fit the word count, making every final word of a phrase intentional.
You obviously took this to heart. Hell of a cinquain, really packs a punch. Sticky, eeeew. (wink) Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2013/03/15/cinquains-amy-tackles-a-form/
16/03/2013 at 07:02
Ha! We both got good things from Tony’s clear advice. ‘Mood swings’ was just the perfect final line on your first cinquain and I loved the way the inflection fell.
Good to see you liked ‘Sundew’ ~ helluva plant, I’d say
16/03/2013 at 19:54
Oooh! Carnivorous plants? I think I have a poem (in draft form) about them. Fascinating things! Like this a lot Polly. Abstract. And the pic too.
17/03/2013 at 07:28
Ah … the WIP, we all have such a folder; dust it down and let’s see it, Holly
Good to see you liked this one.
17/03/2013 at 11:56
Mine’s not so much WIP as “work gone wonky and shoved to the back of the drawer”!
18/03/2013 at 13:53
These plants are SO cool but SO DEADLY!!!! How come a PLANT can kill a fly quicker than I can? Riddle me that!
18/03/2013 at 18:48
You’re back! Hi Jasmine
The answer to your question is … I don’t know
18/03/2013 at 19:21
LOL I was always here!!! In spirit! How could I not check up on my POLLY!!!???
18/03/2013 at 20:35
heh-heh … you still make me giggle
19/03/2013 at 12:15
It’s my JOB
24/03/2013 at 23:50
WOW! Beautiful!
25/03/2013 at 02:30
It’s a glorious looking plant and I agree, Cindy, the photo is spectacular
06/04/2013 at 01:51
Very cool cinquain and what an alien plant. Was a great prompt!
06/04/2013 at 04:27
I love ‘alien’ to describe the sundew …. so apt.