Of all the flowers ever seen,

Photo - Flower Power, Bernie Boston, Nominated for the 1967 Pulitzer Prize

Of all the flowers ever seen,
Aphrodite crowned Rose as queen.
Yet Daisy won’t try to be a rose…
Let’s abide by what flowers show us… 

Rose is the monarch of gardens, it’s true:
red stands for passion, pink for gratitude.
Lavish scents from sweet Gardenia
hint at a presence I’m keen to see. 

Despite her bright pigments, Tulip in white
offers forgiveness; a fine reminder.
Resilient Daffodil blooms each spring, 
rising regardless of Warmth’s apathy. 

Sunflower stretches to bravely attain,
to grow and rise from seeds again.
Poppy remembers the horror of war;
that nothing’s dumber than glory and honor. 

I’ve been vain, ripening pride;
compassion lay fallow in winter inside.
Blooms have no vanity, petals don’t preen; 
they’ll dress up a meadow and not want a thing. 

Might I still reap the peace to be won
by Carnation’s courage in the end of a gun?
By brave Sunflower, battered by winds, 
swaying and bending then rallying again! 

Lee DeNoya - Santa Fe, 2022, during the invasion of Ukraine