Lavender

Feb 28, 2024 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

Button

I found a button on the sidewalk.

Fallen from the sleeve of a
lacy blouse
worn by a lonely woman,

popped off the collar of a
stiff cotton shirt
from a hurried gentleman?

Once, maybe, donned by
a poet,
a father,
a chemist,
a grieving widow,
a homeless wanderer.

Unnoticed and left behind by
someone heading somewhere
without their button.

I pulled a purple ribbon through it
and hung it on a nearby branch,
simple, ornate, and endlessly, endlessly
circular.

Small,
yet quite
universal.

About This Poem

Style/Type: Free verse

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Country/Region: United States

Favorite Poets: I tend to read Ted Kooser, Jim Harrison, Billy Collins, Paul Simon, Robert Frost. I like minimalist poetry, and poems reflecting on nature and Mother Earth.

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Comments

Sen99

1 year 4 months ago

Nice one Lavender

...... what a lovely theme and sentiment, something so small, everyday and ordinary like a button can evoke can contain so many lives, histories, emotions and people, you definitely took an object and made it universal, its shows your imagination and ideas at play. Another fine effort maestro.

Lavender

1 year 4 months ago

Hello, Sen,

Sometimes a practice in meditation and mindfulness focusing on simple objects or events helps me appreciate the present moments.
Thank you so much for reading!
L

Lavender

1 year 4 months ago

Hello, Mark,

A button, a penny, a random object left behind - all things have a story of some sort.
Thank you for reading and offering your insight!
L

Candlewitch

1 year 4 months ago

Dear Lavender,

Although I enjoyed your foraging into the personal history of the "little fellow", I was thrown off the path by the lack of question marks for your questing. I thought this was a wonderfully imaginative and it made me smile ;)

*Cat & eddy styx

Lavender

1 year 4 months ago

Hi, Cat,

The first portion was to start the process of thinking about the button with an honest question, the rest was just daydreaming and contemplating the possibilities, realizing its tiny size, but its universal value. I'll think about how to make that a bit clearer. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this!
L

Geezer

1 year 4 months ago

I found myself...

wondering about that button! What color was it, how big and how many holes in it? How long before it was missed? Was it ever missed? I thought about the idea that a button might represent so many things. Universal... Nicely done! ~ Geez.
.

Lavender

1 year 4 months ago

Hello, Geezer,

I wonder about these things, too, when I see random "stuff." I also wonder about things like: who read the same library book as I did, where has this dollar bill been and what has it helped purchase? Random stuff that finds a place in poetry sometimes. Kind of a meditation of sorts.
Thank you, as always!
L

Alex Tanner

1 year 4 months ago

Hello L

Nice, easy and perceptive. I often think, when walking along the beach, as I see an odd shoe, usually a child size, where did it come from, to whom did it belong. Questions that may never be answered but give life to imagination. Alex.

Lavender

1 year 4 months ago

Hello, Alex,

I see an occasional shoe, too, and wonder how it came to be there.
Thank you for reading!
L

Alaethia D

1 year 4 months ago

"Small yet quite universal"

Yes!! I know what it is like to see these small things encountered in daily life, and wonder over all the possibilities of where they are from and what story they hold. Beautifully done.

Lavender

1 year 4 months ago

Thank you, Alaethia,

The tiniest things in life can bring about such amusement, wondering the story and history of such items. A fun, little enjoyment!
Thank you for reading!
L