In my imagination,
I see a day that’s red light free.
No stopping or starting,
Just cruising happily.
I’d reach my destination,
So very easily,
If I had nothing in the way,
To bring delay to me.
Yet life is not that simple,
And in true reality.
A few red lights are always needed,
To make me stop and see,
That often an interruption,
Becomes a great possibility.
One which could be missed,
by living a green light fantasy.
Leona J. Atkinson
07-09-13
Today we honor our red,white and blue.
The Flag that over many battles flew.
The Flag that stands for what we hold true.
Take time today it’s beauty to view,
And contemplate what it means to you.
Leona J. Atkinson
06-14-13
National Flag Day-USA
My May day delight
Color explosion of red
Azaleas in bloom
Leona J. Atkinson 05-23-13
Haiku
Sturdy, staunch, old fashioned flower
The staple of gardens in spring.
Your beautiful blooms last into fall
Three seasons of color you bring.
A true bloomer are you.
A plant so easy to grow.
Many a Gardener calls you friend.
Geranium, you, I am proud to know.
Leona J. Atkinson
05-21-13
Blaze, you seemed to be the perfect rose for late springtime.
They told me you would bloom repeatedly from early summer to fall.
How excited I was to bring you home and introduce you to my garden!
Your profile showed no negatives.
You were:
Shade tolerant,
Resistant to rust,
Had moderate thorns,
And could be trained to climb.
What a keeper!
You certainly seemed to be the prize rose bush!
I planted you and waited eagerly for those profuse semi-double red blooms–but they never came…
Day after day you sat there drinking my water and eating my food
without so much as a bud appearing.
I reread your profile to see if I had missed something,
but all I saw were more amazing attributes :
Grows quickly,
Blooms profusely,
Brings forth thousands of flowers,
Brilliant scarlet red clusters,
So easy to grow it is recommended as a gardeners first rose .
Such amazing attributes do not fit you, the Blaze in my backyard .
You certainly are not a vigorous grower. What is wrong?
Each day you seem to get weaker.
I don’t want to give up on you,
but you seem to have given up on yourself.
The more I try to make you grow, the less you do.
“Talk to him more” mom said.
” Tell him you really care about him.
Encourage him to grow because you know he can.
Start listing all the attributes he has.
Tell him you believe he will become a beautiful blooming bush someday.
Try it and see what happens” she said.
I did. I tried. I talked. I cared.
You grew. You flourished. You became what you were created to be,
a Blaze of scarlet in my backyard and the first rose to bloom this spring !
(Written about Laura Jae’s little late bloomer, Blaze, rose bush.
He is a living testimony that we should never give up on anyone.
For as long as there is life there is hope and with love, care and encouragement,
people, as well as rose bushes, will usually grow and bloom profusely to reach their God ordained destiny. )
Leona J. Atkinson
05-13-13
Red is favored many a time ,
But how can I choose it over lime?
And orange, I really like a lot,
But purple’s great too, is it not?
Yellow is so bright and cheery,
Pink delights when I’m feeling dreary,
Blue calms me with it’s gentle hue,
Yet a light shade of green does that too!
The glitter of gold I love to see,
But the shine of silver is also special to me.
Black has it’s place, as does brown,
How can I possibly choose a color to crown?
Picking a favorite is to hard for me,
For I like them all, as you can see.
Therefore, the choice I’ll leave undone,
For there’s just too many colors to focus on one.
Leona J. Atkinson
04-28-13
Leonas Lines--Poetry Plus 