Cosmos

“When I saw that jungle on a high corner balcony, I could tell that it was your place.”
my youngest brother on a recent visit to Stockholm

Eight purple petals
round the sun rise
from a feathery green boa.
Some soggy lips still stick
together after a rainy night.
Candy stripes, Psycho whites
and Glorias, all sown in the same pot,
just weeks before mother died,
are blooming now.

Better a negative transaction than none at all, huh? And so yesterday, a balmy Sunday morn, I broke off one long stem of my favorite species, and inserted it into a crystal vase (blown especially for cut roses). New buds have opened on the cut and if this Indian summer continues, many more are likely to blossom on the balcony too – like Seashells and Day Dreams. And what next year? Note that, unlike the Rose, none of the members of this family were ever christened, much less nicknamed ‘Queen’. There's a reason, but what do they know?