Hi Suzie! Okay, firstly, this is an extremely belated thank you for the totally amazing banner you made for my WIP story. It’s still my favourite … and secondly, I don’t really do poetry, but I will try my best. *smiles* I’m exceedingly impressed with the beauty of this.

Where to start? I’m trying to remember all the poetry terms from high school … Let’s see. Imagery, metaphor, and simile – I loved the way you used tulips here. In the first section, the tulips seem like the family coming to mourn, remembering the fallen, but then going back to their daily life. And they come every year.

I’m not an expert on poetic grammar, but in the second stanza, third line, I would use a comma instead of a semi-colon, and the same thing in the third stanza, second line.

Oh, Suzie, this second section makes my heart ache. It’s just so achingly beautiful. I’m trying to pick out a favourite line from that section, but I just want to quote the whole thing! The part that made me want to cry was in retrospect to the sweet spring that he loved. *tear* And the petals that frame his life … that again makes me think of the family, upholding the memories of the fallen, celebrating his life instead of dwelling on his death. They don’t want to let go of him, but they can’t help it – that’s the way life is. They want to forget him, because it hurts to think of him, but when they do forget, it hurts more to know that they were able to be happy without him. Such beautiful, powerful metaphors. And then you start and end with the soft dewdrops! Lovely.

The third stanza is also so powerful. Especially after reading DH and feeling the anguish of the Order losing the battle, thinking that Harry had died … I don’t know how they could have born it if he hadn’t come back. Total devastation, even if his death had saved them all. This section especially has great rhythm and rhyme, and again, the imagery and personification of the tulips is perfect. I’m amazed at your ability to tell the story without explicitly stating what is happening. Just … guh. It’s simply astounding.

*contented sigh* The final section ties everything together, doesn’t it? It has echoes of each preceding section, with mentions of Time, fresh life, colour, grey, dewdrops, and dust. The family (which I’m pretty sure is the Weasleys at this point) has mourned, but they know that Harry wouldn’t want them to dwell on his death, so they stand tall and move on with their lives, living them in ways that would never have been possible if he hadn’t died. And every year, they’ll remember and mourn for him, but life will still go on. What a perfect message.

Suzie, dear, I heart this poem. It’s just as beautiful and intricate as your banners, if not more so. I love that you can paint beautiful pictures with words just as well as you can with colour and images. I’m definitely adding this to my favourites. Thank you so much for this utter gem. It’s seriously made my day. *loves*

~ Abigail

Author's Response: Abigail! Well … this is an extremely belated response to your review … so we’re even. *giggle*

I chose the theme of “Tulips” pretty randomly to be honest – I was going through my Tulips phase where everything I wrote, every graphic I made, had to have some sort of tulip slipped in. Looking back, I’m quite glad that I used it for this poem – I think it sort of fits.

Thanks for the tip about semi colons, I’ll go check it out! I’m glad you liked those lines. With the petals framing the ‘life of colour’ I was sort of thinking of a grave, with photos of Harry and the family/friends placed around the flowers, with perhaps flowers growing over them in time, like the frame of a picture.

I’m glad that you liked the third stanza. The style and structure of the poem is directly paralleled to “At a Potato Digging” by Seamus Heaney, which talks about the Irish people during the 19th century famine. I loved the way that the third part of that poem was more intense, faster paced and powerful than the rest, so I wanted to bring this out here as well.

And yes, the family is the Weasleys. I think that if Harry had died, they would definitely be the family that visited him so regularly as, well, they more are less are family anyway.

I’m so glad you like this poem hon, thanks a lot for reviewing!! ~Suzie

This was sort of recommended to me and I'm so glad I read it. It was absolutely beautiful. Each word sort of played off each other. Tulips are my favorite flowers. To me and I hope I'm understanding this correctly, it was about the cycle of life, starting over and hope; yes? Even if I'm wrong I still think it was astounding.

In case you can't tell, I love it!

Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing! *yay, hands over tiramisu* Tulips are my favourite flowers too! At the time of writing this poem, I was kind of obsessed with them and apart from me liking them, there wasn’t any real reason for me choosing to have them as a theme. Looking back though, I’m glad I did because Tulips are so colourful, which is good when talking about hope after a death. I didn’t want some drab, depressing flower…

You’re more or less right! *yay* In a way, this poem is sort of AU because I was thinking of “what if” Harry died in the war – how would Ginny and people move on? I guess the poem could apply to anyone, but if you look carefully, some parts are written with Harry in mind. :) The ending though, you’re absolutely right, is about hope, and how eventually, they will move on and start over. Death isn’t just about sadness!

Anyway, I’m really glad you liked it. :) Thanks so much for the lovely review! ~Suzie

Love this!! So sad but a lovely poem...

Author's Response: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it. :)