(Steel) Magnolia by Patricia Neely-Dorsey

Water Effect

(Steel) Magnolia

Breathtaking,

Delicate beauty

Of Creamy Perfection

With Roots Running Deep

In Southern Soil,

A history almost

As old as time,

And endurance

As tough as

Steel:

She defies description

And explanation

But...

Beauty is its own excuse.

~

Patricia Neely-Dorsey

My Magnolia Memories and Musings - In Poems

©2012 

If you are called a "Steel Magnolia" by someone, take it as a compliment. It is a Southern term that means a woman who is tough, strong, yet sweet and feminine. She has the toughness and strength of steel when it comes to family, hard times, and sad times. However, she has the loving tenderness and inner beauty that shines through.

In the book "The Road to Gandolfo" by Robert Ludlum (originally published in 1975 under an assumed name), in chapter 18, he writes..... 

"There was a will of steel beneath the soft magnolia exterior..."