Wisteriously

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I had to write a few silly lines just to stake my claim on the neologism “wisteriously.” It popped into my weird brain as we watched the tortured romance Howard’s End. I wasn’t following all the story, but the flowers sure were pretty!

Scientific descriptions have amused me and inspired doggerel since I was a boy. For instance, there was that line in a Peterson field guide: “mantids are predacious.” Makes you want to write a poem, doesn’t it? No? Maybe it’s just me.

So, here’s the inspiring description: “Wisteria is a genus of woody, twining vines known for their long, fragrant, pendulous clusters of flowers, often purple or blue, but also white or pink. They are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves in the fall. Wisteria is a popular ornamental plant, often used to decorate porches, walls, and arbors.”

The neologism, big words and odd syntax in this poem may remind you of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. That poem begins and ends with these enlightening words:

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

(background image by Yves on Pixabay)

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