Frost Still in the Ground - May 5 2025

 

Frost Still in the Ground

May 5 2025

A stunning purple flower

hugging the ground

beside a stubborn patch of snow

is like emerald Oz

in the Kansas of my lawn.

When everything is beiges and browns

this improbable flower pops,

an exclamation mark

of luscious colour

that stops me cold,

rushing past

in my usual state of distraction.

Even though it’s small.

Even though

despite its royal purple vestment

it’s neither gaudy nor pretentious.

And even though it’s content

to hug the ground

in a modest spot

tucked against the garden wall.

Even more improbable

in this frigid spring

when frost still grips the soil

are those delicate petals;

as if, pinched lightly

between finger and thumb

they’d disappear

in a silky smear of purple dust.

Or is it the combination

of toughness and fragility

that catches my eye,

the juxtaposition

of opposites?

We debate beauty.

Is it symmetry, rarity, proportion?

Ineffable, subjective, universal?

Inborn or learned?

But there is no debating this.

An improbable flower

pushing up through barren ground

and brightening the world.