Wednesday, November 19, 2014

It maintains its identity by its sheer tenacity

                                                                                      Attribution: Brocken Inaglory
Image: A specimen of the Metrosideros polymorpha (here)

3WW:  notorious toxic fiery
Poetry Jam:  identity - who are you
Poets United:  health

Who are you?

It maintains its identity by its sheer
tenacity producing a brilliant display
of fiery red to yellow flowers

The Metrosideros polymorpha
in all its insistence
Notorious for holding out in all of
its intensity for its very existence
in such trying situations
of toxic lava flows

Yet it grows easily on lave
reputedly the first plant to peep
out of the fertile soil

No small wonder it is sacred to Pele
the volcano goddess in imposing its
presence in plain good health

So, here again, who are you, anyway!


Note: The Metrosideros polymorpha, is a
species of flowering evergreen tree in the
myrtle family found in Hawaii. It produces 
a brilliant display of flowers which can
range from fiery red to yellow. Many native 
Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree as sacred
to Pele, the volcano goddess The trees grow
easily on lava, and are usually the very first 
plants to grow on new lava flows  -  Wiki

For Brian's hosting at Poetry Jam 
Susan's at Poets United's Midweek Motif
Thomg's at 3WW week # 402

29 comments:

  1. Seems a fine symbol of health as it grows again despite tremendous challenge, something we all would do a lot more esily if we were healthy to begin with. It's good to see you, Hank.

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  2. Hank, you managed to work with all three prompts in a remarkable fashion. It is no wonder the plant is sacred to Pele.

    http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2014/11/who-i-am.html --- visiting from Poetry Jam.

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  3. "sheer tenacity"..so many open pages of Nature to learn from..nicely played Hank with three prompts :)

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  4. pretty cool...what a resilient flower to live among the lava...and what a cool metaphor as well...for maintaining our identity under adversity as well...

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  5. wonderful...love this!

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  6. a plant that rises from the ashes, something to inspire to:)

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  7. I love the word tenacity, I use it a lot in some of my poems.
    Great poem Hank well done.

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  8. Tenacity is the word, Hank. Look at it, thriving in such stark conditions - much like the human spirit can do, when it must. I enjoyed your perspective on the prompt.

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  9. Never give up and keep on growing, can learn a lot from that flowers showing

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  10. No matter what, life always finds a way...

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  11. really love this. wow at the strength of a tiny plant, now just imagine what WE could do!

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  12. Such a life lesson, Hank. Wonderful choice and great job

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  13. This is awesome,like phoenix, paying homage to Madame Pele

    Have a nice Wednesday

    Much love ...

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  14. I enjoyed the information and word paintings of this special plant. Then I thought about the poem answering the question "Who are you." It is a very special person indeed who can be seen as a metaphorical metrosideros.

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  15. Breaking rock to make a home. Well done

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

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  16. Quite a challenge to get three with one stone.

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  17. Well written on the prompts. Nice reference to Pele as well.

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  18. I like the idea of tenacity in flowers and people.

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  19. Amazing how that beautiful plant comes to life within such a harsh setting. Thanks for teaching me something new.

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  20. Yes, and I once stood right at the edge of that volcano on the Big Island, watching the fiery lava bubbling away. Luckily, it did not choose that moment to spill out...

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  21. Life, and its ability to hold onto a niche, is amazing.

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  22. wonderful poetry that plant teaches us that there is hope even at places we won''t imagine

    Identity

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  23. Love the lesson this 'volcano goddess' and you give us: tenacity! Way to live! ~ Thanks, Hank!

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  24. Wow! Good one.
    Nice take on the prompt! :)

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  25. Flowering in adversity by utilising the few resources locked in the potentially fertile environment... If only we all could do that in our life.

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