This is a season when people bring bouquets to hosts and hostesses. This was an unexpected and delightful gift from our housemate. Happy Holiday season to you all!

A Petal Moves, Then Another

She brought me flowers,
a bouquet of fuchsia anemones.
Elegant stems covered in soft down
lengthen up to ferny ruffs framing faces
like a cluster of Elizabethan ladies,
pink cheeks and violet eyes.
As I admire them standing together
in a bright ray of morning sunshine,
a petal moves, then another,
a flower in shadow slowly turns.
The bouquet is in slow-motion rustle.

Remember surprise when you first saw
a full moon move as it rose,
or the sun actually slip beneath the horizon?

That night, the anemones drank
all the water dry in their vase.
I refill it again and wonder.
If I watch patiently, might I see
their throats move?