Flora Florentine

Sweater: Jessica Simpson Collection, Amazon

Lucky Lunar Necklace

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon

I got this sweater and handbag for Christmas.  Which came as no surprise, because they were on my Amazon wish list.  But what did surprise me was how well they went together, like a strange spring garden crawling with hippies and ladies who lunch.  And that got me thinking about the bag.  What if, like those well-heeled women, it looked all cool and in control, but on the inside was really a mess?  Like an exquisite flower arrangement days away from becoming fertilizer?  Once so acquainted, I felt compelled to name this baggage-burdened bag Flora Florentine.  And to tell her rambling rhyme of a story:  

Hi, I'm Flora Florentine,

The centerpiece of every scene.

I'm purple, yellow, orange, too;

My petals have the hues for you.

But once the wedding's over

Or the birthday cake's a crumb,

I go home with Aunt Ida,

And it's fairy tale to slum.

She waters me with Evian

The first day but runs dry,

Then drowns me in off-brand OJ

Until I choke and die.

That's when Fluffy slurps me up

And hacks me up outside

Into the slimy soil

Where the worms and critters hide.

I decompose into the earth,

Our mangled fibers mingling, 

And serve as slug and grub food

But end up stalwart and singing.

I stretch and smile in the sun,

A lovely, leafy thing,

An orchid, rose, or marigold

To tempt the bees to sting. 

Any moment, any day,

The gardening shears will flash

And I'll be plucked to join a bunch

For the next splashy bash.

Until that hallowed, happy time,

Until that golden then,

I'll wait for my big moment 

When I shine at table 10.

P.S. Fertilizer and Florentine or not, at least Flora isn't made of spinach like those sad eggs and chickens.