fireworks burst and
light up the sky
while petals explode
in the flower garden

Purple coneflowers again
they take my breath away!
every single summer
it's as though
I'm seeing them
for the very first time,
these old friends.

a baby blue jay
clinging to a magnolia
posing like a pro

sometimes the things that most
pain me are tiny and barely noticed by most,
grey nuanced subtleties and prickles,
rather than splashy, full-blown atrocities

I think I respect a shouted I hate you
more than a whispered I know what's best

Black-eyed Susans?
Really? Why not
Brown-eyed Donnas?

(Life is so unfair.)

prehistoric posies, all silver and spikey
conjure my imagination and I search for
bitty dinosaurs under the leaves

I spent the day trying to catch hummingbirds
and the night trying to catch my breath.

"Crocosmia Lucifer"

I had never met one before today!
How could something so wonderous
be named so poorly???