She bloomed in every setting.
Rose patterned everyday dresses,
cherry cheerful flannel pajamas,
fruit speckled summer skirts.
Wisteriaed wall paper
wooed her to sleep each night.
Bougainvillea borders
bedecked her breakfast nook.
She lived up to her name,
Lily lived a lovely cheerful life.
Written for Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today I’m hosting at the pub and asking folks to write a Quadrille (a poem of exactly 44 words, sans title) that includes the word “bloom” or a form of the word.
Image: Hopie in the Garden, painted in 2021 by Hilary Pecis, on display at Boston’s Museum of Fine art in their Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination exhibit.
Explanation of Tussie Mussie: During Queen Victoria’s reign (1837 – 1901) a small bouquet of flowers called a tussie mussie was a common accessory. Flowers were considered more modest adornment than jewelry for young women.
lillian the home poet 
It sounds so wonderful with so many flowers… and flowernames for girls is wonderful
LikeLike
Thanks, Bjorn. I am Lill through and through. Lillian was my name all through high school. Went away to college and the first person who asked me my name, I said “Lill”! My mother saw fit to give me the middle name of Mae and thus my cousins tormented me with Lilly Mae! UGH….but in this poem, Lily seems appropriate 🙂
LikeLike
I love the thought of blooming in every setting, Lill. Made me think of Laura Ashley back in the day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahhhhh I remember Laura Ashley! I always wanted one of her blue flowered bedspreads….never got one but I sure loved walking through the Laura Ashley sections of stores!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh how I adore those “fruit speckled summer skirts.” Exquisitely woven, Lil! ❤️❤️
LikeLike
I was just so taken with her skirt and straw hat in this colorful painting!
LikeLike
What a lovely bouquet of blooms! I adore, “Bougainvillea borders
bedecked her breakfast nook.”
LikeLike
Thank you! After my afternoon at the Museum with all the flower bouquets and the Garden exhibit…I was on an emotional high….just blooming with joy!
LikeLike
I adore the alliteration. Somehow it enhances the flowers, making the poem feel like a beautiful bouquet!
LikeLike
What a lovely comment to read. Many thanks! So glad you enjoyed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved it!!! Such a delightful, and cheerful poem!! Loved how its autobiographical in nature, just perfect!!🩵
BTW thanks for the great prompt today and hosting!!!
LikeLike
I always love tending the pub and creating prompts. So glad you enjoyed the poem…I really had fun writing it.
LikeLike
A beautiful blooming quadrille, Lillisn
Thanks for dropping by my blog
much love
LikeLike
Glad you liked my quadrille….my the joy and happiness of flowers bloom in your heart today! Do hope to see you again at dVerse LIVE on Saturday!
LikeLike
Colorful poem! Love it.
LikeLike
Always good to have multiple hues in one’s life! Glad you enjoyed the poem!
LikeLike
Lovely graphic, and your (outstanding!) flowing verse is a perfect match. Great work, Lillian. And THANKS for hosting the cool prompt.
LikeLike
Many thanks, Ron! Glad you enjoyed the prompt….certainly have many poetic vases/verses blooming on Mr. Linky today! 🙂
LikeLike
Beautiful and lovely painting too 💐
LikeLike
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love all the flowers, Lillian. What beauty you’ve awakened in Lily’s life. I love flower names. This makes me happy: “cherry cheerful flannel pajamas…” 🍒🌸
LikeLike
I started writing and decided alliteration and fun were the ways to go. The display/exhibit at the museum sure was joyful so decided to carry that floral happiness right over to dVerse! This was a painting on display in the garden exhibit. It was quite large and I couldn’t get enough of it….just kept coming back to it! Loved its vibrancy!
LikeLike
I love how her personality is reflected in her clothes. Sounds like a person full of life.
LikeLike
If she was a real model for the painting, I imagine she was smiling the entire time, even though her back was to the artist! And I suspect she really did wear many floral printed clothes 🙂
LikeLike
Floribunda! So colorful, quite quadril-lilyish.
LikeLike
Oooo wordalicious! Your comment makes me smile 🙂
LikeLike
A perfectly plucked 44! So clever and I enjoyed the alliteration and colorful imagery, Lill. This is a poem to return to for a cheerful lift!
LikeLike
So glad you enjoyed, Jennifer. This was a painting in the Museum of Fine Arts in the Garden exhibit…it was quite large and truly vibrant. I couldn’t get enough of it! I kept walking back to it and looking at it more…It just made me so happy!!! Glad you enjoyed it too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicely alliterated, Lillian 👏 It gives some musicality to the words.
LikeLike
Thank you, Shaun. I had some fun with the wording…reading it aloud helped get the alliteration in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a cheerful and life-affirming write – Jae
LikeLike
That’s what I always aim to be: cheerful and life-affirming! I just kept walking back to this painting in the museum. It’s quite large and so very vibrant. The more I looked at it, the happier I got….so perfect for a future poem and I snapped the pic! I wasn’t home an hour and I started writing the poem! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed.
LikeLike
I love the alliteration, especially here:
“Bougainvillea bordersbedecked her breakfast nook.”
I can see it in my mind’s eye.
A floral fantasy of a life, you’ve painted, quite beautifully.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I added the bougainvillea at the last minute and it just popped in my head to be a wallpaper for her breakfast nook. So fun to create characters in our imagination and have them come alive in a poem! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Come alive, she did!
LikeLike
Beautifully written, Lillian. I love the play on flower names through out and especially at the end!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well of course I had to use Lily!!! But, if truth be told, I never liked my name until I went away to college. Lillian Mae. That’s what I was blessed with. Lillian after my maternal grandmother and my father’s twin sister; and Mae after my mother’s favorite aunt. I was known as Lillian until I went to college and then the first person who asked my name, I said “Lill”! And that’s what I am to this day….except as the home poets I went back to lillian but no capital letter as a home poet is not a true poet! And how I detested all my cousins calling me Lilly Mae! UGH! But, here, I rebirthed the name with value and happiness 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So interesting! My sister had the same problem. She was named Priscilla Maude! Maude after my grandmother. And my wife grew up being called Ruth Anne until college when she become only Ruth!
Names and their origins are very fascinating! I think Lillian has a nice ring to it! :>)
LikeLike
I love the title! Never heard that phrase before.
All the flowers are so refreshing. My granddaughters are Violet and Rosie.
LikeLike
Somehow, in researching the painting I came across the term…a small posey of flowers…a small bouquet. Called this in Queen Victoria’s day! And oh yes….there is nothing like fresh flowers!!!
LikeLike
I like how “Wisteriaed wall paper wooed her to sleep each night” makes her world feel soft and cozy 🌸
~David
LikeLike
Exactly what I was aiming for! The bouganvillia on the other hand, pops her awake in the morning! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
*hug!*
LikeLike
A Tussie Mussie can still be relevant in modern times. Nice one Lillian!
Hank
LikeLike