“Are you watering weeds?” he asked

The neighbor who’s yard is bare of much green.

I smiled and answered, “yes, and the flowers.”

He didn’t say anything, but walked away with a smirk.

Flower’s roots and seeds wake from their winter sleep,

slowly they stretch up toward the sky.

They aren’t always apparent, unless you can recognize

their early growth.

The ubiquitous cheatgrass comes up green,

to fool us.

It was a hitchhiker in packing materials,

and used for ship ballast

and came as a contaminant to crop seed, in the 1800’s.

Now it tries to grow closely to the stems of flowers.

It takes dexterity and determination

to remove it from the flower beds.

It is worth the effort,

at least, to me.

Flowers calm and fill my thoughts

with ethereal beauty.

Flowers where Fairies rest

and sip nectar in the cool of the evening.

Flowers where honeybees

seek their daily nourishment.

Under the branches,

toads hop at night.

They eat up all the pests

and bring the gardner blessings.

The places where joy bounces

from bloom to bloom.

.

Secrets reside in the petals.

Flowers reveal, for those who wait,

gifts of color, shape, textures and scents,

and transform a chaotic mind, to peace.