Poetry and greenhouses
Wouldn’t if be wonderful to have the sort of greenhouse that could grow exotics like these orchids? But it would be a lot of work to look after, so I’m probably better off without.
Looking at the picture did make me wonder if there is any poetry about greenhouses, and, of course, there is. I found a whole page of them at Hello Poetry, starting with:
I like to think of people as a greenhouse
We are only a short moment in history
We can be radiant and beautiful …
apparently written by someone who signs himself ‘Drunken State’. I think one has to be a member of Hello Poetry to understand their system fully.
Theodore Roethke also wrote poems with greenhouses in them, though his seem to be more about memory than giving priority to the building.
It’s less effort, and less expense, to read web pages and admire photos than to care for a mass of unusual plants. But I’m really glad that someone takes the trouble.
e a m harris 