Author Archives: Leslie Schultz

April 16, 2025 Context for Poem “Pome Fruit”

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First Kiss Apple with Winona Pear

Rosendahl’s entries for the letter “P” held many attractions for me. I was able to work in two of my favorite into today’s offering: “pyriform” (pronounced “peer-i-form”), an entirely new word to me that means “pear-shaped;” and ‘Pome,” which already held associations for me though the botanical connection was delightfully new.

Previous? The title of a poetry collection that James Joyce published in 1927: Pomes Penyeach–which I have assumed was his thumb in the eye to “correct” British pronunciation and spelling–and a monthly local event at our public library that goes by the acronym P.O.M.E. or Poetry Open Mic Event.

(As for the use in botany of the word, “pome,” I believe that today’s poem, emailed to you if you requested it, explains that.)

Wishing that you, too, make delightful discoveries today in the worlds of letters and growing plants–LESLIE

April 15, 2025 Context for Poem “Spring Whirling”

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Today’s prompt word is “ovate” meaning egg-shaped. That made me think of spring and the various egg associations at this time of year. Might be time to munch some jelly beans.

LESLIE

Egg Sauna, American Swedish Institute (Photo: Bonnie Jean Flom)

April 14, 2025 Context for Poem “Poppies, Yes, But…”

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Each year, I wait for the emergence of the delicately dazzling snake lilies. When I saw the term “nodding” today, in Rosendahl’s glossary, these early blooms are what I thought of. These images are from last May.

Last year, too, these special small flowers appeared in an April post, with a poem inspired by their humble strength, and the courage it takes sometimes simply to exist.

LESLIE

April 13, 2025 Context for Poem “One of a Kind”

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Photo: Karla Schultz

The botanical term that inspired this poem, “monotype,” does not appear in the poem. Exploring its meaning, however, made me think of how we are able to see the uniqueness of those people (and situations and locations and objects, too) that are important to us. It especially takes time and attention to perceive the deep individuality that marks each person. And then, despite a consistent core, he or she keeps growing and changing!

Today’s poem is dedicated to my sister, Karla. Today is her birthday. Her life is a gift to everyone who knows her. Among her many virtues, as some of you long-time readers know, she is an exceptional photographer of the natural world. (To see past posts that feature her photography, you can search on “Karla Schultz WinonaMedia”.) The photographs in this post are all from her. I want to thank her for allowing me to share her artistic gifts with you.

LESLIE

Photo: Karla Schultz
Photo: Karla Schultz
Photo: Karla Schultz
Photo: Karla Schultz

April 12, 2025 Context for Poem “Missing Pages”

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In preparation for a summer weekend discussing Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, with a friend, I have been reading about her life. Two excellent biographies, Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon and Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark, have provided engrossing reads as well as a wealth of personal and cultural background. And yet, and yet…no matter how much can be known by scholarship, there are always overt and inadvertant gaps for a biographer. No matter how much we know, we wonder. It seems to me that speculation — risky as that is in any realm — is part of coming to know, and if there is no margin for that then we either make it up or grow bored.

Still, I suspect–ahem, I speculate–that for most of us knowledge is founded on questioning, and only some questions can be definitively answered. How frustrating! And yet, how wonderful, too, since it is our explorations that give us new points of view and allow new insights in.

Today’s poem has twin inspirations–this recent reading and the realization that not only texts but also plants have in-built essential lacunae.

Here’s to partial answers to some of our questions!

LESLIE