Parterre
An acrostic poem

Does the
Iridescence of her
Savoir-fair allure you?
The calla lilies speak to me when
Roses--in exchange for silence--
Asphyxiate my will to
Call out your affair. Yes,
The calla lilies know your dirty secrets, (though my)
Irises are rosy glasses--laissez-faire.
Oblivion reminds me of an ice cream cone.
Naïveté--accepting one more rose for my parterre.
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-Gina C.🧚♀️✨
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Author's Note: The ghosts of past relationships have been haunting me lately. ☺️
That said--while I know it's a bit taboo to point out details in your own work--I will truly eat my mittens if people don't notice the double meaning of "irises" in here. 😅
Also, in case you didn't know, here are definitions for some of the keywords in this piece--which have been grabbed from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
parterre noun
pär-ˈter
an ornamental garden with paths between the beds (often depicted as a maze)
savoir faire noun
sav-ˌwär-ˈfer
capacity for appropriate action. especially: a polished sureness in social behavior
laissez-faire noun
ˌle-ˌsā-ˈfer
The French phrase laissez-faire literally means "allow to do," with the idea being "let people do as they choose."
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This poem is part of my Petite line, which focuses on brevity. If you'd like to check out more from this collection, try this one:
If you'd like to check out work from my Signature collection, check out this:
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This poem was written for the Dancing with Distraction Challenge. :)
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Thank you so much for reading! ☺️
I'd be over the moon if we could support each other! I am an active member on the Vocal Discord Server, as well as the Vocal + Assist, Great Incantations, The Vocal Social Society, The Vocal Creators Lounge, and The Medium Writers and Vocal Creators Support Facebook groups. Posting your work there is the best way for me to support you! :) ❤️
About the Creator
Gina C.
Achievements:
- Twice-published in Vocal's Moment of Freedom Collection:
Free-Form poet of ethereal style. 🧚♀️✨
Fantasy writer.
A sucker for a good rhyme. ☺️
Fueled by a conflicted soul of fire & water. ❤️🔥🧜🏻♀️
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Masterful proofreading
Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Comments (50)
Fantastic work as always, Gina. More than quite edjamucational, lol. Please, don't eat Your mittens for You are not a kitten. Also, with all the crazy things that have inspired stories as of late, You had me a little concerned for You. Hope those ghosts are easy to exorcise, unlike making this work of art which was a mental exercise. I do like the flower maze, as those are things upon which I longingly like to gaze. Besides, You keep putting Yourself in Your thumbnails, how do You keep doing that? Are You taking a picture of Yourself to help provide as a template for Midjourney?
Woohoo! Congratulations on making the first-ever leaderboard, Gina! Well done!
How does oblivion remind you of an ice cream cone 🍦?
You have excelled with this piece. Like Elton John said "Our sad songs say so much"!
This was so gorgeous and poignant, and I loved your use of flowers (and their double meanings 😉) and consistent french phrases. The symbolism! The coherency! Ugh I aspire to write something so nuanced and bold and eloquent and READABLE! I could read this dozens upon dozens of times and still find myself wanting to read it again! What a breathtaking poem 💖
Lovely work! Beautifully written & brilliant! BRAVO!
Another absolutely incredibly immersive and deeply layered piece, Gina! Everything you do is ART! From your tiers of meaning, to text/structure/style to the gorgeous pictures you create! So impressed and inspired by your work! Congrats on Top Story!
Very beautiful work! I noticed irises, and am so impressed with the vocabulary in this piece! Congratulations!
Congratulations love u....
Beautiful poem! I loved the fact that you mentioned the extra knowledge in the end! I got to learn new words and phrases! Thank you for writing this!
I love this. great read.
Congratulations and thank you for the tidbits at the end
Nice Story!
Congratulations on Top Story!
Always The Best❤️💯📝❗🥲CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR TOP STORY❗❗❗❗🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Beautiful words and thank you for the pictures and explanations. Well deserved Top Story
The diction and syntax of this piece is extremely compelling. This work is exemplary. Keep it up!
Double meaning? Wha..? LOL Yes, I caught it. Another amazing piece, Gina! Congratulations on Top Story!
Such beautiful words. You knocked it out of the park again. Congrats.
Gina, you're the 💣. There's so much I love about this piece, I have to make a numbered list to keep it all organized. 🤯 1. Paul 👇 said it perfectly. "St-un-n-ing!" This piece is so evocative.. so magnetic.. and somehow so *dense*... all while being, what, 50 words if that? You are 🔥. 2. You artwork continues to blow me away. I have only dabbled in midjourney so far, but you are almost single-handedly convincing me to buy a subscription 😂 (lmk if you have a referral code and I will definitely use it so you can get credit lol) 3. This idea of an in-piece glossary is brilliant! All of your language is familiar (in the good way, meaning you never sound like you're trying to sound smartier-than-thou), but admittedly the definition for lassez-faire is a bit deep in the mind rolodex and the card has some rub-marks on it which have erased some of the specifics of that term. Your in-piece glossary is an astoundingly cool way of making sure your readers are on the same page as you were when you wrote it. Well-done. 4. Love the way you are breaking up your work. This idea of the 'Petite' collection and the 'Signature'. Super cool. Hope you don't mind a Micro Heist which involves me, well, heisting some of these great ideas, as appropriate. 5. Writers should be allowed to call out their own brilliance when it happens. Your irises comment cracked me up. (And yes, I did get it. As a sommelier of Dad Jokes, my brain is wired to look for: "Eh! I see what ya did there..." 😉) 6. (See why I had to number all of these?) Love your Author's Note. As does our planet, it only makes sense that writers 'go through seasons', doesn't it? Love that you're owning this. And I've really been enjoying your work in this series. Thank you, as always, for your brilliance, your openness, and your crystalline honesty. Such a privilege to experience, as your reader.
Beautifully written.
St-un-n-ing! Gina, pal, you just keep knocking them out the park! Just awesomeness in every line. Well done on a richly deserved Top Story!
Congrats on the TS, you legend.
Beautiful !! Congratulations on your top story
Congratulations on Top Story Gina C!