Purple Poems

“Paula”

With purpose, she folds her purple petals

Not posing in the night

Not playing with proper time

But resting in the dark

She has no fear of being plucked by any buck

Foraging in the night

Lightly, she lays there, on the edge of her thorny bed

Condensing the frigid air into droplets of desire

Conjuring up dreams for daylight, yet to come

Dancing forward to daunting displays for onlookers in the garden

She sleeps peacefully, next to poignantly poised thorns-

A ladder for lady bugs to climb

To reach her by morning time

In pursuit of her quenching water droplets

They persist patiently, jumping from thorn to thorn

Until the sun rises

When she unfolds her purple blankets

Sending showers upon the Ladybird beetles

“Purple Nightshade”

You may have been told that I am

A garden vegetable of a varietal sort

but I am here to report

I am a large purple berry

And often thought to be scary

Contrary to the fear of creating

Insanity, I am more of a purple vanity

Harmless and bold

To end up in your kitchen or pantry, I am told

I can come in white, I can come in yellow, I can come in reddish-brown,

But for you, today, I come in purple

Don’t call me tomato, don’t call me potato

They may be my cousins, but lack Spongy bottoms

With a trace of nicotine, you may want to smoke me

But that would take a thousand leaves plucked to roll me

Try stacking me high, a ziggurat of nightshades

Many feet tall, but you may wake up and

Witness a great fall

Of violet bowling pins in the hall

Don’t set me on the counter or leave me on the table

Or I will roll off and hide and become unstable

But rather, I want you to slice me up and

Toss me in the skillet

So, I can soak in a scalding sea of

Butter, milk, and millet

For only then, may I live out my destiny

To enhance your essence and

Fatten your flavor-

Like a sponge I absorb your favor