30 October 2010

This withered orchid posed itself

4 comments:

AliceB said...

Elegant in life and in death.

anna tambour said...

So glad that you think so, too, Alice.
Alive, it was a cute little flower with perfect skin and splayed-back petals of wide-eyed blue. So to achieve this! It certainly dances around this sentiment and goal:
"For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still."

Such ignoble rot!

Adam Browne said...

the original greek meaning of 'orchid' is stuck in my head - one track mind - every time I hear the word, especially in the context of a withered one, I snigger pathetically.

But this is mainly to let you know I'm still following and admiring the blog.

anna tambour said...

My good man, what was you doing it pathetically for? Orchids are born for sniggering at (an aside: this snigger being the inspiration for my novel Spotted Lily) especially when their stance is as contorted as a little orchid I found only last month, one that is so rare that it is officially listed as 'endangered', thus something I was afeared that if I kiosked here my portraits of the two I found, some saver would berate me to tell where these gentlemen of debatable sex reside, for the purpose of bringing them salvation. Better that mystery abides. But would you like to know the name? Calochilus pulchellus or Pretty Beard Orchid.

But I shouldn't jest. Mussels have beards, so now it's time to wince. Here's the advice about them. "To remove the beard, using a dry towel, grasp the beard and give a sharp yank out."

Dry-eyedishly, I deeply appreciate you saying you get something out of this blog. That makes all the difference.