Public Project
Flower Portraits
8,007
Also by Clary Estes —
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Flower Portraits
Nationality: United States of America
Focus:
Photographer, Photojournalist, Filmmaker
Covering:
Asia,
Europe,
Middle East,
USA & Canada
Skills:
Research, Film Scanning, Adobe Premier, Apple Final Cut Pro, Photo Editing
1 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
I am looking for the one who helped me see the world through both my eyes
Scabiosa owerinii
I could think of nothing else,
but to give someone, something
And in the giving
I gave to myself
that which I needed most.
Scabiosa owerinii
I could think of nothing else,
but to give someone, something
And in the giving
I gave to myself
that which I needed most.
2 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Inula conyza,
Bupleurum falcatum
Speak of your pain
and I will speak of mine.
And perhaps,
in the spaces between
your body
and my own
We will find the parts of ourselves
that only the souls can quietly call out.
Bupleurum falcatum
Speak of your pain
and I will speak of mine.
And perhaps,
in the spaces between
your body
and my own
We will find the parts of ourselves
that only the souls can quietly call out.
3 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
I keep hearing Everything's going to be OK. She said, I just don't believe it Yet.
Astrantia maxima,
Salvia nemorosa,
Knautia montana,
Dianthus cretaceus
You spoke the words
in my mouth
Before they could escape
my lips
and I felt the heart
in my chest
Leave me
for the warmth of yours.
Astrantia maxima,
Salvia nemorosa,
Knautia montana,
Dianthus cretaceus
You spoke the words
in my mouth
Before they could escape
my lips
and I felt the heart
in my chest
Leave me
for the warmth of yours.
4 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Melilotus officinalis
Never is a place I've been.
I found you there
a time or two.
Then others.
Then myself.
But never is a place I've been
more times than never,
but less than forever.
Never is a place I've been.
I found you there
a time or two.
Then others.
Then myself.
But never is a place I've been
more times than never,
but less than forever.
5 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
We meet in the basements Of churches, Under the eyes Of people who refuse To see us.
Filipendula ulmaria
Burning the earth beneath me
I bring it up with my hands
That I might put the bowl
to your lips
And you drink in
The sweet meadow.
Filipendula ulmaria
Burning the earth beneath me
I bring it up with my hands
That I might put the bowl
to your lips
And you drink in
The sweet meadow.
6 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Solidago virgaurea,
Epilobium angustifolium,
Scabiosa owerinii,
Salvia nemorosa,
Melilotus officinalis,
Valeriana officinalis,
Knautia montana
I climbed to a lake in the sky
That spoke two languages.
It was by the water's edge
that I buried you.
As I descended
I felt light in my emptiness.
I looked up
Seeing a single wolf
on the precipice
Heading back down towards the world below.
Epilobium angustifolium,
Scabiosa owerinii,
Salvia nemorosa,
Melilotus officinalis,
Valeriana officinalis,
Knautia montana
I climbed to a lake in the sky
That spoke two languages.
It was by the water's edge
that I buried you.
As I descended
I felt light in my emptiness.
I looked up
Seeing a single wolf
on the precipice
Heading back down towards the world below.
7 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Our pain asks us to sit with it For it is lonely too.
Dianthus cretaceus
A damp morning
sang the song of the horse;
short and high and secret
and rare.
Climbing over the bow of color
in the grey, yellow sky,
Its song dipped and bent
with the north wind
singing chorus in the trees
until it landed in the fields afar.
Good morning,
it sang.
I sing of the colors you cannot see.
Dianthus cretaceus
A damp morning
sang the song of the horse;
short and high and secret
and rare.
Climbing over the bow of color
in the grey, yellow sky,
Its song dipped and bent
with the north wind
singing chorus in the trees
until it landed in the fields afar.
Good morning,
it sang.
I sing of the colors you cannot see.
8 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Trifolium arvense
Ink on the page,
like blood in the vein.
Ink on the page,
like blood in the vein.
9 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
The souls of trees are in the sky. That is why they reach so high.
Senecio grandidentatus,
Epilobium angustifolium
As summer ascended,
The flowers I gave you
grew wings
And flew away.
Senecio grandidentatus,
Epilobium angustifolium
As summer ascended,
The flowers I gave you
grew wings
And flew away.
10 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Campanula rapunculoides,
Verbascum laxum
Calling out over the expanse
Filling empty space of cow pastures.
Hello
Where are you?
Coming together through sound and spirit.
Their sounds are so joyous.
So joyous.
They raise my soul up
to the dark skies;
Give me hope.
It is as if they know
When my soul resides below the earth;
When it is trapped within my body;
When it aches
to fly out into the fields
and breath in the damp, tenebrous air.
Then they call.
Verbascum laxum
I hear the coyotes
scream in the night.Calling out over the expanse
Filling empty space of cow pastures.
Hello
Where are you?
Coming together through sound and spirit.
Their sounds are so joyous.
So joyous.
They raise my soul up
to the dark skies;
Give me hope.
It is as if they know
When my soul resides below the earth;
When it is trapped within my body;
When it aches
to fly out into the fields
and breath in the damp, tenebrous air.
Then they call.
11 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
As I laid beside you All I really wanted to do Was touch you.
Gentianopsis ciliata
In her loneliness
She created in him
Someone who was not there.
Seeing flowers
Where there were only
fallen leaves.
She wanted so badly
to apologise
to a spectre who never existed.
Gentianopsis ciliata
In her loneliness
She created in him
Someone who was not there.
Seeing flowers
Where there were only
fallen leaves.
She wanted so badly
to apologise
to a spectre who never existed.
12 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Gentiana septemfida
I can not sleep.
I can not help sleeping.
I dream of prison towers
and walking up invisible staircases
Then I wake with eyes dampened.
I can feel the ridges along my brow.
I can not sleep.
I can not help sleeping.
I dream of prison towers
and walking up invisible staircases
Then I wake with eyes dampened.
I can feel the ridges along my brow.
13 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
They tell me I escape the world by running through it.
Woronowia speciosa
You did not know
Because you could not feel it.
And you left
So you could not see it.
My long loose hair
Falling to a wood floor.
Woronowia speciosa
You did not know
Because you could not feel it.
And you left
So you could not see it.
My long loose hair
Falling to a wood floor.
14 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Geranium sanguineum,
Astrantia maxima
Because
You hung my bouquet
By your door
for too many years.
Because
The petals and the leaves
fell to the floor
with every passing person
and day.
The master's wort
curled in,
became brittle.
The geraniums,
gasped for air
transluscent.
Because
As the sides of your home
fell in
and the winter air made you cold,
And you brought the flowers to me,
ashen and falling around your fingers
saying,
"I did not forget you.
I only laid you down for a time."
Not realizing that I too
had become ashen
and fallen.
Astrantia maxima
Because
You hung my bouquet
By your door
for too many years.
Because
The petals and the leaves
fell to the floor
with every passing person
and day.
The master's wort
curled in,
became brittle.
The geraniums,
gasped for air
transluscent.
Because
As the sides of your home
fell in
and the winter air made you cold,
And you brought the flowers to me,
ashen and falling around your fingers
saying,
"I did not forget you.
I only laid you down for a time."
Not realizing that I too
had become ashen
and fallen.
15 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
It was so simple. She had simply one day been forgotten.
Leucanthemum vulgare
Then came the day
When she did not want
In her life
The person see used to
Love the most.
Leucanthemum vulgare
Then came the day
When she did not want
In her life
The person see used to
Love the most.
16 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
Tanacetum macrophyllum
The memory
of being thrown aside
Created in her
a need to outgrow
him
and his pain.
The memory
of being thrown aside
Created in her
a need to outgrow
him
and his pain.
17 of 18
© 2024 Clary Estes
I wish to be seen. I wish to be unseen.
Potentilla ruprechtii,
Melilotus officinalis,
Securigera varia
He tried again
and failed.
It was not the attempt
that was a failure,
but something else
entirely.
Potentilla ruprechtii,
Melilotus officinalis,
Securigera varia
He tried again
and failed.
It was not the attempt
that was a failure,
but something else
entirely.
Maybe it is what we try
to give each other.
The hands full of flowers.
The best parts of ourselves.
So that we might be taken in
and make you smile
As we are held with care.
Maybe it hurts.
Maybe it is beautiful,
but wilts away.
Then we return to the fields
of clover and honey and fireweed
before the autumn sets
And we try again.
Running back to our homes
with another gift torn
from the meadow
Of our selves.
to give each other.
The hands full of flowers.
The best parts of ourselves.
So that we might be taken in
and make you smile
As we are held with care.
Maybe it hurts.
Maybe it is beautiful,
but wilts away.
Then we return to the fields
of clover and honey and fireweed
before the autumn sets
And we try again.
Running back to our homes
with another gift torn
from the meadow
Of our selves.
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