Flower of First Rain

sitvanit AmitaiAsif

Photo: Amitai Asif

 

It emerges in fall

Flowers preceding leaves

To mark the last

Breath of summer

And the bounty that winter

Will soon retrieve.

 

Colchicum stevenii grows in the Mediterranean region and throughout Israel, blooming between October and December. Its name in Hebrew “Sitvanit Ha’Yore” literally means “Fall flower of first rains.” Flowers range from 1-2 inches (2-5 centimeters), with petals shaped from straight ruler-like petals to egg-like. Petals’ hues can be lilac or pink to almost white. The bulb contain colchicine, a toxic/poisonous material that is used in medicine to treat arterial diseases and gout.

 

For Cee’s Flower of the Day

Fields of Gold

Golan. Osnat Barlev

Photo: Osnat Halperin-Barlev

 

Fields of Gold

You’ll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley
You’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we walk in fields of gold
So she took her love for to gaze awhile upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love among the fields of barley?
We’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we lie in fields of gold
See the west wind move like a lover so upon the fields of barley.
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth among the fields of gold

I never made promises lightly and there have been some that I’ve broken
But I swear in the days still left we’ll walk in fields of gold
We’ll walk in fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down among the fields of gold
You’ll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky when we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold, when we walked in fields of gold

(Songwriters: Dannii Minogue, Gordon Summer, Henrik Johan Korpi, Karen Poole, Mathias Johanson)

Here’s the version as sang by Sting in 1993:

And one of my favorite renditions by Eva Cassidy (RIP, Eva, your music goes on):

For the Tuesday Photo Challenge: Field