A Field of Flowers: Poems and Essays from a Diplomat: Poems and Essays from a Diplomat's Journeys

By Betsy Orlando

Through her almost twelve years of travel, Betsy has written poems and short stories about and in the places she has lived and visited. Her poems are Impressionistic expressions that reflect her life experiences during this time. She captures the moods, feelings and vistas of her journeys throughout the world. Like Monet she tries to convey the world she has seen with images that are visual landscapes. This book is an accessible and enjoyable, sometimes whimsical and witty, tour around the world that sometimes leads to the heart. Both poetry lovers and non-poetry readers alike will delight in their reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 7, 2003
• ISBN: 9781465322920

Betsy Orlando

Betsy Orlando was born and raised on Long Island, New York. She graduated with honors from Mount Vernon College and the University of Akron School of Law in Akron, Ohio. She is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association. She joined the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State as a Diplomatic Courier. She has traveled to over 160 countries and has been posted in Washington, D.C.; Bangkok, Thailand; Helsinki, Finland, and twice to Frankfurt, Germany. She is the author of three novels and numerous short stories.

Book preview

A Field of Flowers:

Poems and Essays

from a

Diplomat’s Journeys

Betsy Orlando

Copyright © 2003 by Betsy Orlando.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

The cover art was painted by Ana Shalabi.

All photos were taken by Betsy Orlando.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

20466

Contents

POPPIES

A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS

ODE TO MY GERANIUMS

TIGER LILIES

ODE TO LILIES

CHANGING SEASONS

ARCHES

THE CASTLE

CANNON’S ROAR

DOORS

FINNISH FLAGS

OSLO

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

ON THE WAY TO JOMO KENYATTA

ERITREA

ANTANANARIVO

CHRISTMAS IN CYPRUS

CHINA

ISRAEL

IN THE CITY OF ANGELS

CYPRUS

WE GAMLEGGING/ A DETOUR IN BELGIUM

BUDAPEST

LAKE CHIEMSEE

CARTHAGE

ISTANBUL

VIENNA

SPRING IN FINLAND

AFRICA

NAIROBI

ONE MORNING IN ZURICH

IN THE PARK

TO THE ONE WHO LEFT

ON GROWING OLD

DESTINO

FELLOW TRAVELER

AN OLD WOMAN

THE CHILDREN

THE LESSON

A GHOSTLY VISIT

THE CENTERPIECE

THE SEAGULLS

ON BEING AN ANGEL

TO BLOOM

WALTZ WITH ME

TO A FRIEND OF SILVER

ON MUSIC

IMAGINATION

FALLING LEAVES

MEMORY

THE BABY-SITTER

ON WRITING

A POET’S LIFE

SILENCE

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

DARKNESS

A GIFT OF LOVE

A BEE

THE MORNING

TO HOSPITAL

A HOSPITAL STAY

CUT OFF

ICKY STUFF

SOMETHING ROTTEN

MEASURED HOURS

BEEP, BEEP

THE GROWTH

ON SIGHT

MEDITATION ON THE KLINIK AM MAIN RIVER’S COURTYARD

DEATH ROW

CRIES IN THE NIGHT

MEDITATION ON THE DAY

SHE COMES TO VISIT

ON LEAVING THE HOSPITAL

IVY

HALLUCINATION

DREAMS

DAY BECOMES NIGHT

EARLY MORNING

CORN

MY EYE

TWILIGHT

A GRAY CAT

ON HALLOWEEN

STRUDEL DAY

QUITTING TIME

MORNING LIGHT

IT IS GOING TO RAIN

WITHOUT YOU

MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT

AFTER GLOW

SHOOTING STAR

THE CLOCK’S NURSERY RHYME

WHEN THE STORM CLOUDS GATHER

A BREEZE BEFORE THE RAIN

THE COMING STORM

LIGHTENING

TIME LOST AND REGAINED AN ODE TO PROUST

AN ODE TO SAMMY GLICK

THE LESSON LEARNED

THE BREAD LEFT OUT OVERNIGHT

STANDING STILL

NIGHT’S RESCUE

LULLABY

THE LIGHT FROM ACROSS THE STREET

UNCLE SAM

CHILDREN PLAYING

STARS

A PRAYER

WAITING FOR SPRING

THE SEA’S STORY

AT THE RED LIGHT

THE CROWS

THE RAVENS

IN MEMORY OF THE COLUMBIA SPACE SHUTTLE CREW THE FALL OF THE COLUMBIA

POPPIES

Amidst the green

Red poppies bloom

Wild and bright of sheen.

Unwise use in doom

Their flowers made to drug.

They grow over graves newly dug.

Yet, something so simple and beautiful

Seemingly good

Inspired great works of art.

Monet felt their pull.

Their colors red like blood

Tugging at his heart.

A canvas of poppies

He permitted like a dream

To bloom on a sea of green.

A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS

In a moment of beauty

I look and see

The flower in front of me.

Open to its fullest extent

Perception fills without relent.

Six petals of pink and white

Fold back onto themselves.

Stripes line their center of their leaves

And their vision likes daybreak.

missing image file

ODE TO MY GERANIUMS

Slowly the buds unfurl

To replace the old flowers

Gone with age and neglect.

Colors awaken

And become bright and soft.

Pleasure giving

Odor wafting

Beauty beheld by the senses.

Rise your sleepy heads.

Come and shine

To show your glamour

Off to the world around.

Dazzle them.

Please them.

Make them stay

If for a moment

To stare

At the colors

And brightness

You have to share.

Your softness alluring.

Your scent demure.

Fresh and young

The world is yours to own.

So unfurl your buds.

Bombard your senses.

If beauty is truth

And truth is beauty

Then you are the way

Of wisdom

Of enlightenment

To all who risk

And dare.

Spend a few moments

Stolen or in stare

To behold you.

TIGER LILIES

Tiger lilies standing in a row

Orange and black they grow.

Tall and silent in their woe

Straight and swaying a blow

In the breeze.

They tease the foes

Of their imagination

To believe that their strength

Lies in fascination

Of their colors aglow

In the day’s slow

Painful adoration.

Ferocious in name

Stalwart in blossom

Beauty wild in nature’s bosom.

Yet, in reality tame

And treasured

For the pleasure

It gives anyone

Who dares venture beyond

Hello.

ODE TO LILIES

The flowers are open.

The petals array.

Showy and colorful like an Easter’s parade.

The lilies in orange and yellow

Stand tall in their vase

Like handsome devils.

Their long stems and reaching stamen

Call out to lookers like prostitutes brazen