Lilies

I have found that lilies symbolize many things. The more traditional lily is a long stemmed garden flower with petals curling back from a horn-shaped face. This type of lily is strongly associated with the Christian tradition and Jesus' love. In Aboriginal Australia, the lily symbolizes courage and perseverance. In both China and Japan, the lily is said to dispel personal grief. Women wear lilies to help them forget the sorrow of a loved one's departure. White lilies symbolize purity, innocence, and chastity. At the same time and in the Greek culture, the trumpet-like shape of the petals symbolize erotic love and passion. In Greek mythology, the flower came from the milk of the goddess Hera as she was nursing Hercules; it dropped to earth (an outpouring which also created the Milky Way).  Clearly, the meanings are endless.


The lily that I chose to be tattooed on my upper arm is a day lily. Apparently the day lily is associated with coquetry. Yes, I had to look up what that meant! "Coquetry" is flirtatious behavior or attitude. LOL. Anyway, I chose my day lily it not for it's symbolism, but because I thought it was pretty. I chose the colors and design and worked with a tattoo artist to design something unique. I guess if I did have to choose a symbol for mine, I'd chose the Aboriginal or Greek symbols. Of course, maybe it is a little coquettish (is that the right use of the word?) too. :-)

Note: Information found on multiple websites when Googling "lily tattoo symbol" and "day lily tattoo symbol."

Poems to Share

Every year our local high school publishes a collection of poems that students have written and submitted. My son has three of his poems published in this edition, not submitted because he wanted his name in lights, but submitted because he was offered extra credit by his teacher, who told the students that anyone published would receive extra credit. No matter his intent, I loved what he wrote and wanted to share them.

Beauty in Islands

Same environments,

Different ways,

Different tools,

Different clothes,

Different games,

But all are connected by one great common factor:

Their culture is music and dance is their art.

They have different instruments

With different sounds

And different movement to their songs.

The islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Aotearoa, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga

Make up the Polynesian Triangle,

Where beauty is endless,

Natural resources are never useless,

And the culture has not been forgotten.

A November Dream

Do I know you?

Have we met?

No, your face I could not forget.

We haven't met, 

But I know you.

Your face is unforgettable too.

I saw you

In a dream, I think.

You rescued me from Hades' brink.

I don't remember

Who you are,

But you shine brighter than the stars.

And now I look

Into your eyes.

I see a soul that could not lie.

I look at you

And match your gaze.

Your eyes are bright as summer days.

I look at you

And I see me.

I can recall a time of glee.

Now I remember

You are me.

And you have come to set me free.

The Desert Sands

Ages of dust have covered the earth

With fear and death and flesh and birth.

I know there was a city here—

A city built on love and cheer

A peaceful people settled down.

They saw the forest all around.

They said, "We'll build a city here.

A city where we need not fear."

The houses grew up from the trees.

I look, and I can almost see

The happiness that once was here.

But here I stand and feel no cheer.

The flesh of seven hundred bore

The flesh of seven hundred more.

A nation started rising here.

A nation born of love and cheer.

The time flew by. The nation grew,

But all I see is brown and blue.

A revelation strikes me here:

The sand and sky are void of cheer.

And so I think, and then I see

In my mind's eye, a sea of trees.

A civil war is in the forest here.

The trees are burning; death is near.

The birds have ceased their rapturous song,

But no-one knows what had gone wrong.

The fields, I see, were red right here.

The earth was stained with blood and fear.

A thousand years or more have passed.

That nation, sadly, did not last.

A people was forgotten here.

A people plagued by death and fear.

What once was earth is earth again.

I close my eyes and feel their pain.

They say there was a city here.

I sit to rest...and shed a tear.