Iris-W

Prized for perfumes and medicines,
Rainbow personified & God’s messenger,
Resting the souls of dead women,
Decorum of the graves,
Delight of the ancient artists.

Blooming on Minoan Walls,
Sculptured in stone at Karnak.
Living memories of the French revolution.
Clovis put you on his banner
And won over Germanic tribe.
Louis VII adopted you as device,
‘Fleur-de-lis’ the symbol of France.
Germany suspended you in beer barrels,
And France to enrich the wine,
England to give flavour to brandies,
And Russia flavoured a soft drink.

Then, plucked in a state of chastity,
Now, relegated to flavour toothpaste.

==========================
Dr. Ram Mehta

Third Place win in:
Contest: Best Blossom Design (Flower Poem) sponsored by the Destroyer Poet

=================================================

The poem was read by me at the World congress of Poets held in Iasi, Romania in 2002 and has been published in the following international magazines:

Copy and paste in your browser the following links:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?AuthorID=24119&id=121733
http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=Content&pa=list_pages_categories&cid=58
http://www.boloji.com/writers/rammehta.htm
http://www.inditecircle.com/pro/art.php?artid=31
http://www.kavitanjali.com/pgjuly07/iris.htm
http://www.alittlepoetry.com/vs06rammehta.html http://www.poetsexpress.com/Winter07/DrRamMehta.htm
http://www.poetry.com
http://www.poetrymagazine.com/archives/2001/April01/mehta.htm
Copyright © | Year Posted 2005

Poem

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Brown Avatar
June 13, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Congratulations on your win in Poet Destroyer's "Best Blossom Design" contest Dr.Ram. Love, Carol
A   Avatar
June 12, 2011 at 1:11 PM
DR RAM,~~ A SUPER ~Congratulations 4 this wonderful FLOWER entry!!!! Thank you it was an honor to have you support my contest. Don't miss out on my next one.. Take care,..p.d
Scripca Avatar
June 11, 2011 at 9:49 AM
Dr. Ram, You went to Romania without me :) My Dad was born in Iasi and he was a published poet and novelist too. Iasi is in Moldova, Romania and a lot of poets and artists were and are originally from that region. Congratulations on your wel deserved win. All the best, iolanda
Devonshire Avatar
June 11, 2011 at 8:09 AM
Congratulations not only on your win in the contest, Dr. Ram, but also on reading this incredible poem filled with historical detail at the World Congress of Poets! Love, Carolyn
Delacroix Avatar
June 10, 2011 at 9:51 PM
Very intelligent, interesting and enriching write, Dr. Ram Mehta! Congrats on our win! Thank you also for your kind comments on my latest. Best wishes, Caroline.
Johnson Avatar
June 10, 2011 at 9:42 PM
It should have won first place. Great writing. This is a great poem. Congratulations. Love, Joyce
Sweetheart Avatar
June 10, 2011 at 8:48 PM
Congrats Dr. Ram on your lovely Iris winning big in PD's contest on blooming flowers my friend.. lovely write..
A   Avatar
May 13, 2011 at 6:10 PM
Dr. Ram.. congratulations on your wonderful feature of the week... I sure enjoyed... take care,..p.d
Brown Avatar
May 9, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Congratulations Dr. Ram on your well deserved poetry being featured this week. Love, Carol
Austin Avatar
May 9, 2011 at 7:29 AM
Very informative, Doc. I love the bloom, hate the leaves. Congrats on the selection. Love, daver
Sweetheart Avatar
May 8, 2011 at 5:02 PM
Congrats Dr. Ram on your featured poem this week on P.S. ..a most wonderful one to share with us all my friend with luv..on this special day of luv..
Dietrich Avatar
August 30, 2010 at 10:32 PM
What a great couplet for this at the end, Dr. Ram. I had to come all the way back to one of your very first writings here to find one to comment on! I hope this one had received other comments?? If it did, they have now been deleted by Soup. LUv, Andrea
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