The Sun Moon And Flower Garland

Lady Suvarna sat outside the brick walls

Of the beautiful church of the Lord

In her quaint basket she wove and spun

Rosary, Mogra Gajras and garland wreaths

Of leaves, flowers and petals

In a span of a second

Before a blink of an eye

Before you could say Jack Robinson

She spun and spun

From pretty irises, chrysanthemums

Lilies, roses, marigolds, jasmines and sunflowers

Carnations even sweet puffs of dandelions

All day and all night

In her woven cane basket

Turning buds into blossoms binding its cords with delight

For the cemetery graves

Also for statues of ornate Mother Mary

And gleaming Prince who stood

On the centre of the junction

Crossroads betwixt the two shores

Bandstand and Carter Road!

 

Now one day the spinning of the beautiful flowers

Turned the sky crispy blue and sun genial

Its turquoise chambers in patches of blue cushiony clouds

So bright, holy a hue!

The cerise sun like paprika peeping through

Lit the heavens with happy chords so true

As she sat Lady Suvarna

Delicate and divinely, spinning and weaving

Wheedling her roses and coaxing lilies

Training her Gipsy sunflowers, matron Mogras

And merry wink marigolds

Into garlanded wreaths for crosses and headstones for tombs

As well crowning glories

Flowing hair or tresses tied in buns

Braided or knotted

For young maidens, old beldams, grandmas

 Wedded or spinsters

She came across a blinding light

And never knew until passing of night

It turned day when an Angel of Lord appeared to her

Not even a dream

But in bright daylight

Full of gleam circling around her a magnificent halo

Brimming Beacon of Light!

 

So caught was Lady Suvarna

In her simple yet chaste duty

Tying and binding

Weaving and spinning

Her bright Mogra flowers in threads and chords

She didn’t give notice to the bright angel gleaming

A book the angel of mercy

Read from a verse revealing unto the forsook lady

The word of God! To spread

Lady Suvarna looked up and now realised

She was blindfolded by streaming holy light

Despite it being sunlight

The Angel said unto her

“Make a festoon so beautiful

And a garland so pretty

With rarest of rare urchin flowers for the Lord

Ragamuffin ragwort’s and Scallywag black eyed Susan’s

O’ servant of god Lady Suvarna

That sits by the kerbside outside his church

Now spin them with experience

And make it full with blossoming buds

That never ceases to delight the Lord

With its mellifluous aroma

Wafting into the light of day

Never diminishing through the ebbing of dusk

Moonshine and starlight”

 

The lady Suvarna all aglow by the angels command

Was greatly flummoxed

As to why such a quizzical favour made

 How would last forever

With her thinking caps and bells she thought

Sadly to herself full of misery and woe

“Every flower loses scent

In just a few hours wilt and die

How can I make a festoon of roses?

Lilies, chrysanthemums, Mogra’s

Carnations, dahlias and dandelion puffs

So fresh that lasts the day of light

Never diminishing by waning night”

Once again shining stars turning into brilliant sunshine again

So sat she spinning not losing faith or her gauntlets of courage

Took up cudgels, the strange request made

Echoing through her heart and ears

 The blessed words of the blinding holy angel light

She sat and binded and wove

Making a Rosarium of bright sea urchins gather around

Like a puckering of a seam

Little Lady Suvarna

Her toes grasping its fresh flowers

Busy thumbs and fingers spinning

Into Lords garland and circlet of flowers

They all gathered near and saw Lady Suvarna

Spin and spin and spin

All day mellifluous honeyed flowers meticulously

Out of a china bone shop or a florist

It hardly did matter to them

Whether it be real flowers or those

 False, paper, steel or cardboard

Though she doubted like a doubting Thomas

Sea urchins through her corner of eye

They came closer and closer neigh to its blinding light

Of truth she would reveal to them

Spreading the word of God to every little one

As she fashioned tiny urchin buds of blossoms

From her toes and fingers magically

It spun, transformed into a garland and festoon wreath circlet

She felt even if its perfume vanished away

She would never cease her humble duty

Spinning cords urchin bind and hop weeds into beauty

Yet always spun and spun Lady Suvarna

Never stopped spinning cords into a garland

A beautiful festoon circlet for the Prince

 

At first when surrounded the urchins so blind

Around her toes and thumbs

Made fun they circling around

A Perfume would never last that long

Yet though she doubted she never listened

Or stopped binding her cords

With its scented flowers

The urchins chiding her taunted and jibed

How queer her toes and hands so busy

Making a cord of urchin flowers

None would buy a story to last so long a perfume

Only the moon and sun

Raised its dead story from distraught mankind

Without empathy, selfish and so proud

Refused to know that the flower garland lady Suvarna spun

Would change their hearts, minds, souls unbending but before

Now bowing happily to the Lords Glory

By her busy fingers and thumbs

Toes and chains of her cords

Garlanding the most ungrateful urchin flowers

Into the Lords gleaming Festoon wreath

One for him around his neck

One at the top of his crowning glory

Where a shining star always shone

Sceptre and globe in his hand!

 

Soon day light faded and night became

The flower garland Lady Suvarna

Retired home to her loving siblings

And children to rest

Selflessly served her family

Without a single grouse

To cooking their meals and bathing them one by one

In the morning she delighted to return

Her little flower basket outside the brick wall

Of the holy church

She opened her woven basket to see

The binded festoon

Of leaves, flowers, petals

She wound with urchin flowers

That never seen the light of day

Yet perfumed so mellifluous like honey

It spread its aroma everywhere

Near and beyond the gleaming God of Glory

Soon the angel did surprise

Lady Suvarna with blinding light

In the daytime

Sparrows chirped and pigeons cooed

Strutting fan tails nearby

Now her task was accomplished

The gathering of urchins around her shed

Intensified

They increased in number one by one

But this time they were silent as a pin drops

Never filled with rants, raves and unholy jibes

But silent as the flowers nodding their heads in delight

All surrounding her blessed festoon wreath

Yet Lady Suvarna never knew the reason why

One so astounding

Because the perfume that emitted

From the festoon

Lingered to their tiny noses

So fragrant and nice

Spell blinded them with

Angel of Mercy Beacon of Light

Lady Suvarna was proud

And let her festoon fall into the hands of the Angel

 

As soon as the Angel took it from her hands

The crowd of passerby urchins vanished

From sight

Now were garlanded upon the festoon crown and Lords body

So many flowers in fairy cords

Wound so brightly glowing

Mellifluous perfume that would never cease flowing

Spreading everywhere around

Lady Suvarna dumbfounded saw

Christ’s head decorated with bright urchin flowers

He named them his crown Celestial

Every dawn sunshine rising

By dusk sun setting

Or moonlight eroding through night

It fashioned into Christ’s behemoth festoon wreath

For his head

Its aroma never died down

For he truly loved urchins and busy hands

Of Lady Survana’s

Her secret admirers now stole the garland

And Celestial crown he wore

By turning into its little blooming

Scented bud devotees each and every one

The sun and moon never stopped shining

And Lady Suvarna’s garland of wreaths

Never stopped smelling mellifluously sweet

Always spreading perfume far and near

 The festoon of flowers, petals and leaves

Binding its cords into ever blinding light

Of her Lord