"A Sun Itself In The Grass"

I really enjoy Dandelions. I like the flower itself and the insects attracted to it. Nor am I alone in my adoration of this common flower. Here's are a couple good tributes.

". . . dandelions, perhaps the first, yesterday. This flower makes a great show, — a sun itself in the grass. How emphatic it is!" – Henry David Thoreau, from Journals (May 1, 1854)

DANDELIONS

The little children of the poor
is what I have named them.
They have come to town once again
to spread their brilliant color
on the neglected lawns of folks
who are half asleep, still rubbing
old man winter out of their eyes.
They very much want to belong,
to be liked for who they are.
But like the weak and poor everywhere
they are looked upon as a bad dream,
a nuisance, not wanted, stepped on,
cursed, kicked, and in the way.
I'm talking about my friends,
the yellow dandelions of this world,
who have made themselves at home
and are all being happy together
in the long, thick, wet spring grass.
Their clear-eyed, shiny, dew-washed faces
are full of hope for a good life.
But, sadly, their lives will end soon,
for here comes the loud lawnmowers,
the ugly shoes, the rough voices,
the smug, self-righteous attitudes.
It seems nobody loves them,
and few tolerate them if they
have the bad luck to flaw
a too fussy suburban lawn.
Only a child here and there
or a thoughtful schoolgirl now and then
will stop to prick a few of them
to take home to a sick mother,
or perhaps a caring teacher,
in some quiet country town.

– Dave Etter, from Dandelions (Red Dragonfly Press, 2010)

Posted on April 22, 2017 01:49 AM by scottking