ORCHIDS by Hazel Simmons-McDonald

→ this poem entails a woman moving from her old house, having boxed all her
belonging; an orchid being the only thing remaining
→ the orchid was gifted to her by someone who habitually gives flowers as gifts to
people, therefore, she didn't think this flower was anything special
→ orchids are commonly associated with things such as
- Luxury
- Sophistication and elegance
- Royalty
- Strength and courage
- Fertility
- beauty

→ about the poet |

- St. Lucian writer and linguist
- Was a professor and administrator at UWI
- Studied and graduated from UWI in Mona, Jamaica
- She then studied at Stanford University in the US where she received two
master’s degrees in international development of education and linguistics
- She followed this up with a Ph.D. in linguistics

→ FIRST STANZA |

I leave this house

box pieces of the five-week life I’ve gathered.

→ ANALYSIS |
- These lines explain to us what the speaker is doing; they are moving from their
current house to a new one, having already boxed up her belongings after
spending 5 weeks in the abode they are moving from
- ‘Box pieces’ are a metaphor for the fragments of her life on a figurative level
→ SECOND STANZA |

I’ll send them on

to fill spaces in my future life.

→ ANALYSIS |
- A transitionary period of their life
- Their things are what fill the spaces in their life

→ THIRD STANZA |

One thing is left

a spray of orchids someone gave
from a bouquet one who
makes a ritual of flower-giving sent.

→ ANALYSIS |
- The orchids are the only thing left in the house
- “One who/ makes a ritual of flower-giving sent.” she didn’t consider them special;
there is not attached sentiment as the flower are given by someone who
habitually gives them; it was normal, nothing special

→ FOURTH STANZA |

The orchids have no fragrance

but purple petals draw you → alliteration of ‘p’ sound; a cursive sound, makes it more
to look at the purple heart. memorable

→ ANALYSIS |
- The flower’s scent doesn’t appeal to them
- However, the ‘purple petals’ draws their attention
 - “To look at the purple heart.” the ‘purple heart’ at the middle of the flower
→ the purple heart is a military medal awarded to soldiers for their courage
→ it’s as if the flower earned this medal despite the owner’s neglection of it

→ FIFTH STANZA |

I watered them once

when the blossoms were full blown
like polished poems.
I was sure they’d wilt
and I would toss them out with the five-week litter.

→ ANALYSIS |
- This stanza shows their indifference towards the flowers
→ “I was sure they’d wilt/ and I would toss them out with the five-week litter.”
- In fact, the way they neglected them was the right way to care for these flowers
- “When the blossoms were full blown/ like polished poems.” the use of the simile
to compare the flowers to polished poems; after meticulous observation and care
like a poem, it becomes perfect, polished, shiny; the poems only after one water
blossom fully; perfectly, like a poem that was created carefully.

→ SIXTH STANZA |

They were stubborn.

I starved them.
They would not die.

→ ANALYSIS |
- The speaker purposely ‘starved’ them by not watering them frequently
- “They were stubborn. I starved them” personification of the flower by giving them
human qualities of stubbornness and starvation
 - This shows that the flowers are resilient

→ SEVENTH STANZA |

This morning the bud at the stalk’s tip unfurled.

→ ANALYSIS |
- A new bud surviving speaks to the flowers resilience and defiance; despite being
starved and neglected, it bloomed and produced new buds

→ STANZA SEVEN |

I think I’ll pluck the full-blown blooms

press them between pages of memory.

→ ANALYSIS |
- This stanza shows a change in attitude, the speaker now has a new perspective;
one of admiration
- They pick the blooms to preserve them (flower preservation by pressing them in
books)
→ A figurative meaning; they store the memory of the orchid

→ LINE 23-24 |
Perhaps in their thin dried transparency

I’ll discover their peculiar poetry.

→ ANALYSIS |
- ‘Thin dried transparency’ as time passes, the flowers will become thinner as they
dry up, smaller, and it will be more clear:
- ‘Their peculiar poetry’ is the meaning the speaker will find in this ‘peculiar’ piece
of art; like a poem, it takes time to understand the meaning of what is trying to be
conveyed.
→ OTHER NOTES:
- Sometimes, it takes a while to discover the beauty in something
- Things that may seem trivial might end up having a greater significance in them
- Nature is able to teach us lessons; courage of the orchids despite neglect
- ‘Full blooms like polished poems’ ‘peculiar poetry’
→ writing or understanding poetry takes time to create and even more time to
understand its significance; like how it takes time to care for the orchids and the
speaker keeping the flowers so they can one day understand it’s significance
- Despite having no fragrance, the petals still drew her in
- This poem is reflective of the poet’s process of writing poetry

→ structure |
- Written in blank verse ; coincides with the persona’s mood (an inner monologue)
- Run-on lines; enjambment; follows the personas stream of consciousness

→ themes |
- Death
- Survival
- Resilience
- Nature
- Inner beauty
- Moving on (emotionally and physically)

→ tone |
- Contemplative

→ mood |
- Reflective
- Contemplative
- Indifference to admiration