I think this is the first time I've read your work.
The title was first thing that grabbed my attention because it was unique. I love the imagery you used and the theme of picking petals in hopes of finding love.
My favorite part was the ending:
"Even so, she stills, then alas! releases the naked stem,
plucks another from the roots and tries yet again."
I loved the rhyme here and it wrapped up the poem beautifully. Good job!
Pluck a petal to ease the boredom
or perhaps add to the fair facade,
of a beautiful maiden in a golden field,
young enough to dream
yet old enough to tell a dashing rogue
from a handsome Prince Charming.
- I love the fairy-tale tone in here. I also like the petals being plucked for different reasons as we often do this ourselves, like you say just for boredom, or for the case of love. It reminds of when I too, used to pluck each petal and say "he loves me, he loves me not" until the last petal of the flower was then the answer. I love your description words and how you painted the scene that I could imagine in my head.
Echoes of "he loves me" and "he loves me not"
follows each silky petal to its demise,
with the circle finally ending, her heart still dissatisfied.
Even so, she stills, then alas! releases the naked stem,
plucks another from the roots and tries yet again.
- I like your ending, for the reason that when we do this game to the flower, when we do not get the answer we want at the end we just do it all over again with a different flower! I love the way you say "circle ending" because the middle of a flower is a circle, but circles usually represent unending, forever. And because you are writing about love I just think it offers the fact that your hope of love is never ending and you will continue again until you find it.
Nice short poem but holds a lot of imagery and beautiful wording.