The Silken Glow
A "Nonet' breakup tale of a Victorian Orchid Hunter & his delicate love
For her, he obsessed. Exquisite, rare,
alienesque - he searched high and low,
braved great risk, sought her silken
glow. For him, she’d bloom once.
How to care for her,
he did not know -
thus, their love
could not
grow.
*
-Gina C. 🧚♀️✨
*
Author's Note: I counted "alienesque" as 3 syllables. Syllablecounter says the word "alienesque" is 5 syllables, but I beg to differ. Putting "alien" into the website yields 2. While I, personally, pronounce "alien" as "ey-lee-uhn"(3), dictionary.com confirms there is an alternate pronunciation: "eyl-yuhn"(2), and I figure that's how syllablecounter must be pronouncing it. Multiple other websites also count "alien" as 2. Ok, fair enough! I learned something. Moving on to "esque"...
Syllablecounter counts "esque" as 2 syllables. However, that's absurd, especially when entering "picturesque" in the website yields 3.
So, I used the 2 + 1 = 3 method. I hope it's acceptable. I did the best I could to make everyone happy!
Can I talk about this poem now? Teehee. 🤗
Gosh, I went on such a tangent about syllables there, I'm not even sure where to start. Also, I don't want add too much reading time to this, so, with the help of Wikipedia, I've written some information (and thoughts!) about orchids and orchid hunters here:
Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate your time here. :)
I'd also like to give a shoutout to Heather Hubler, Thavien Yliaster, Cathy Holmes, Dharrsheena Raja Segarran, and Keila Aartila for sharing their thoughts on syllables with me! :)
About the Creator
Gina C.
Poet | Author | Architect of Worlds
Sowing stories rooted in culture, origin, metamorphosis, resilience, language & love via fantasy, myth, magical realism & botanical prose
Writing my novel!🧚🏻♀️🐉✨
Center Stage with Paul Stewart
*** I'm keen to republish the interviews I did for my series with Vocal creators. It's been a few years and I thought it might be nice to revisit these wonderful conversations. I'll be releasing them one at a time for a few weeks/months.
By Heather Hublerabout 7 hours ago in Interview
Comments (22)
So smart to use the orchid as symbology for a breakup nonet, and then to set it in the context of the hunt for rare and special things. Such incredible imagery. Congratulations on Top Story!
Keep up
So beautiful
I love it so much 🎀❤️👏
This is so beautiful
Congratulations on Top Story! Good luck in the challenge.
I can count my own syllables just fine...hopefully. Lovely poem, loved the ancient backdrop and the entire love story. The pics are great too. Congrats
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Loved your poem and commentary. I just created a nonet and plugged the entire thing into their syllable counter and re-worked - mine actually came out better for it. Congrats on TS! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Wonderful verse and beautifully illustrated - with a bit of history as a bonus. I hope they accept and reward this work
Congratulations to you performing.
I love how this felt like a relationship by personifying the orchid. So freaking cool what you did here, my friend!! And always love some background/history. Congrats on TS!!
Some woderful words here
A poem as beautiful as the flower. Well done, my friend. Congrats on the TS.
This poem has 'wow-kapow factor!' It reads like a journey I want to keep taking. That bit about 'alienesque' is all kinda wacky-weird. Sounds like not even the site has clarity. Seems all down to pronunciation really. Here's to hoping it doesn't matter cuz you did due diligence and your poem is awesome. Congrats on the top story!
Great poem.
Well-wrought! And I quite enjoyed the extra details about orchid hunters!
What a cool subject for a breakup nonet! Yeah that syllable counter and I have had some differing perspectives
I never knew that orchids were difficult to care for. I cannot even keep any plant alive. I hope no one gifts me an orchid, lol. Your poem was absolute gorgeous! So nice of you to mention me, thank you so much! 🥰🥰🥰
I've been reading all your nonets like a wee stalker. They're just so lovely! I had to stop and leave a comment on this one. I loved its cheekiness. And I also really enjoyed the Orchid hunter facts. I grew up in the Caribbean (and parts of South America), and though orchids grow wild everywhere, we suffered too. Bring one home and chances are it didn't last very long. Enjoying your poems greatly. Thank you!
This poem is exquisite. It is a perfect representation of my relationship with orchids. LOL. It’s exactly what came to mind before I even saw the picture!
You could be 20 syllables over and I think everyone would forgive it ☺️🌟 what a beautiful poem… followed by a welcome and unexpected lesson in orchid history… and in appreciation. The fact so many of us buy or gift orchids and appreciate them so little that we let them die… when people literally died to find and being them to us in the first place is a metaphorical slap in the face to wake up! Brilliant work, Gina x