Released just in time for St Valentine’s Day, here is my poem about all the flowers I love…

THE FLOWERS I LOVE

These are some of my favourite flowers

So, in winter, the first ones to show

Are snowdrops, whose whiteness can dazzle  

Like fresh linen on virginal snow.

Gorse on the roadside, sunshine on spikes;

Viburnum tinus clouded in scent;

Red camellias herald the spring;

Scillonian daffs wait to be sent.

Pink tulips in a contrasting vase;

Swathes of bluebells in the woodland grass;

The perfection of an English rose;

Cornish violets captured in glass;

Corn marigolds high in the hedgerows;

Strident, tall foxgloves spearing the skies;

Poppies bring us both joy and sorrow;

Buddleia swarming with butterflies.

I love the ‘stand up and be counted’

Of an orange gerbera daisy

And the range of colours to behold

In dahlia displays is crazy.

But I know my favourite flower

Is the one I see blossom each day

With lovely eyes of Cornflower blue,

That lighten up a drab world of grey.

With coral Scarlet Pimpernel lips

That I don’t have to seek here and there;

Buttermilk osteospermum skin

And that honeysuckle-coloured hair.

I hope you are pleased with my effort,

That over which I struggled for hours.

I do hope you’re not disappointed

You got a poem instead of flowers.

©graylightfoot