Late Bloomer - March 17 2025

 

Late Bloomer

March 17 2025



For too long

I thought I was slow;

not arrested, but simply delayed,

a late bloomer

whose flowering would come

in the fullness of time.

But things don’t just come.

And time is only filled

when there’s none of it left.

Orchid, or dandelion?

A hot house plant

with fragrant petals and delicate leaves,

or deep-rooted weed

pushing through a crack

in a sun-baked sidewalk?

I suspect I’d have been the latter.

Or am I just flattering myself

since I admire these survivors;

how they’re sturdy and resilient,

indifferent to beauty,

unconcerned

with pleasing others.

But who imagines for themselves

not the wrong flower

and not blooming distressingly late

but failure to even germinate?

A small round seed

stranded in sandy soil

too dry and compacted to grow;

no thin green shoot

breaking through its husk,

all its potential

locked inside

in its single dormant cell.

In the lush fecundity of summer

sitting in the dark

and slowly decomposing

if it’s not eaten first.

I know this image is harsh

and I haven’t yet succumbed to rot,

but the darkness is real

and the soil still cold.

Forever young,

but with a whole new meaning.