black as the dark night

and spinning round in my head

lost in some deep thoughts

***

.some days are easier than others.

and the holly hocks are blooming en mass... a gorgeous dark , deep red... almost black.

___________

Hollyhocks

In the symbolic language of flowers; fertility, or more accurately fecundity, is represented by tall stately hollyhocks, in recognition of their embarrassingly prolific procreative habits. Hollyhocks are members of the ancient mallow family, known and grown since time immemorial. Withered mallow flowers have been found in the grave of a Neanderthal man and in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. They apparently grew in the underworld garden of the goddess Hecate, who was a skilled healer; The botanical name for the genus is A/ceo, from the Greek word for healing, and mallows were used medicinally for centuries, recommended for everything from whooping cough in humans to swollen hocks in horses. Curing the latter was a special attribute of hollyhock leaves.

--from   " The Meaning of Flowers" by Shiroona