Here Come the Dandelions!

This past winter in Central Oregon was longer, grayer and wetter than it has been in many years. Thankfully, patience was rewarded when spring delivered a fairyland of flowers. My lilac bush has never worn a dress so lush and fragrant. For miles in every direction, lawns that had been brown due to a long stretch of drought looked as if elves had painted them neon green. In no time, however, the glorious green lawns were polka dotted with gold when those pesky dandelions, snakes in the grass, even  during years of drought, enjoyed a field day. 

Today I am sharing two poems I wrote about these indominable plants--a pantoum that romanticizes them and a limerick that displays my true feelings. 

Wild Gold

She lives but for an hour

a lioness resolute—

this gold that is a weed that is a flower                                        

with healing in her roots.

 

A lioness resolute,

she grows in impossible places;

with healing in her roots,

produces hardy golden faces.

 She grows in impossible places.

Her wind-borne mane takes hold,

produces hardy golden faces

that turn white when they grow old.

 Her wind-borne mane takes hold,

making summer rife with riches

that turn white when they grow old,

then soar on children’s wishes.

 Making summer rife with riches,

she lives but for an hour,

then soars on children’s wishes—

this gold that is a weed that is a flower.
                                       Ginger Dehlinger

The Invasion

They pounce on my lawn with a roar,

endure curses, spade and lawn mower.

In spite of the spraying,

they seem to be staying.

It’s time to declare all-out war.
                                      Ginger Dehlinger