To Bloom Once Again

By John I. Blair

Yesterday
I was stumbling around
Trimming the weeds
Near the corner of the house.

As I turned to the side
I suddenly saw
Hiding behind
An old mock orange

A bright flash of red
Where nothing bright
Had appeared in years,
Nothing lovely.

An amaryllis
Missed by my spade
Three decades ago
When I planted the bush

Had somehow survived,
Tucked deep in the soil,
Hiding in shade,
Undisturbed;

And thirty years later
Conditions were right
Despite utter abuse
To bloom once again,

To bloom once again.

©2020 John I. Blair, 4/29/2020