Wednesday 16 February 2011

Still Life with Rabbit and Lobelia

She lay on the lounger, watching
the rabbit nuzzle the lobelia.

Delia, for that was the rabbit's
improbable name, loved chewing

plants but found this one
a puzzle, more pretty than tasty

and somehow sad with its air
of suburban ennui but she,

Delia, did not do boredom
and continued to sniff

until the purpleness of lobelia
flooded her heart

and she leapt up in a binky*
while her owner began to sink

into a warren of dreams
about bunnies and stars.


(This was originally written in respose to a prompt in Poetry Nottingham, to use the first two lines in a poem, the winning entry can be read here (scroll down), I'm reposting the poem now in response to this photo over on A Houseful of Rabbits)

*binky is the rabbit dance of joy

16 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely poem Juliet but I don't know the word binky????

Deb Cushman said...

We love "until the purpleness of lobelia flooded her heart"

That would make us binky!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Weaver - yes, I'll edit to add a note, binky is the rabbit dance of joy.

Freckles and Deb - I thought you might like that line (other bunny bloggers too!)

YowlYY said...

We binky with Freckles and Deb too - it's a lovely poem :)

Janice Thomson said...

Those last four lines are so precious - love this. Particularly the use of the colour purple. Delightful poem!

RachelW said...

A wonderful rabbit story! I really liked the flood of purpleness, adn the rabbit's happy dance.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous. Wonderful sounds and Delia has such personality.

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Ha, ha, you really stumped the non-rabbit folks with the binky!

RG said...

Boy even I would BINKY if it was lobelia time around here!

Although ... Lucky and Winston got put out in a different pen, under cover from the endless rain, and they did a lot of binkys from all the new smells, cold or no!

joaquin carvel said...

"she,Delia, did not do boredom" - i love that - can't think of a more accurate thought for a rabbit.

Kathy K said...

I love the movement in the poem, and the title of the Still Life. So lovely.

d. moll, l.ac. said...

how can we resist?

Anonymous said...

Nice poem. I like how you used a rabbit as your main subject.

Magyar said...

Very softening view in this bardic stort; the rabbit dances within her purple flooded heart.

Here... -binky- a word for 'baby's blanket.'

_m

Anonymous said...

What a brilliant little poem - love the internal rhyme and how the contrast between the bunny who is active and never bored compared to the owner, we assume, if the description of the flower matches her.

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