Diana Webb

“Here’s Flowers for You”

The ground along the railway track a match for any cultivated horticultural show. In shadow underneath the platform edge, a spring of yellow petals. Footlight suns. Ox-eye daisies pristine, line on line hold high the snow-white purity of their corollas. A tale of winter coalesces into one of spring, while on a famous stage the words of Shakespeare speak a spell transforming to the universal language of the dance.

A jealous king. An innocent wronged queen. A small child dead in an instant from witnessing beloved father turned to fiend, beloved mother turned to silent anguished scream. A baby princess banished, doomed to perish, shipwrecked, found, loved, nurtured into womanhood by humble shepherds. Finally brought home. Both royal self and miracle of nature sculpted into one. A point of stillness stirs into the miracle of movement. Reunion. Reconciliation. Joy.

These are the dancers. Long years take their toll. And yet…

bouquets in cellophane 
the radiant transparency 
of tears 

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Note: title from a speech by Perdita in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.

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About the Author

Diana Webb edits the print journal Time Haiku. She enjoys devising and leading haibun workshops in her local area of Surrey, UK. Her latest haibun novellarette, Envelopes, was published by Alba in June 2024. 

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