A News Sonnet A Day for April 2010: 14

I've set myself a goal for National Poetry Month this year: Compose a sonnet based on a science-themed news story each day.

Today's installment takes its cue from "TDZ: anti-ageing cream for flowers" by Leo Hickman at the UK Guardian.

Floral Rearrangement

A rose remains a rose, and apt to fade
As senescence advances unto death.
But TDZ can help bouquets evade
Such quickened fate, from fern to baby's breath.

Extending youthful vigor in the vase,
This artificial hormone turns the tide;
One spritz gives immortality a chase.
But TDZ retains a bleaker side:

Enough can make a crop defoliate.
While that makes cotton easier to pick,
It carries an environmental weight --
Some insects, plants, and mammals might get sick.

The agriculture tests have yet to tell
What knowledge blooms where withered petals fell.

Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too







Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.) Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny Free downloads at the Deviations website and on Smashwords.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant, Appetite, and Destiny in even more formats!

Participant, Operation E-Book Drop. (Logo credit: K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.