Questions in the Flower Garden

June bug, june bug,
do you know me?
My leaves point like swords,
and my petals wave like flags.
I am an iris.                    
                      From: Bumblebee, Bumblebee, Do You Know Me?
                            written and illustrated by Anne F. Rockwell
                                                         HarperCollins, 1999
                     read online on Libby through www.libraryvisit.org

     I like to think of myself as firmly grounded. In my beliefs about the way the world works, my rudimentary understanding of science, my religion. In my family relationships and my friendships, too. 
    I like to think of myself as flexible, though. Able to bend with the wind, compromise within reason, work for the common good. 
    Grounded as the opposite of flighty. Even though I will stand up for what I believe to be true, and I try to stand up for myself, like the Violet, I’d rather hug the ground.
    Here’s this week’s poem for National Poetry Month, a comparison between violets and irises, both spring bloomers, but each with a different attitude.         
                      Questions in the Flower Garden
Violets, intimidated by Nature, 
safe from nibblers, grazers, and flyers,
grow in clusters, hug the ground.

But Irises, tall and stately, 
line up singular 
row 
by 
row, 
fearless. 
Flaunting flags as if 
to battle pounding rain and whipping wind. 

Can one receive more
wonder?
reverence?
awe?

Can one be wiser than the other?
Less a subject of Mother Nature?

Can one be less rooted?

Can anyone?


                                     -—stay curious! (and enjoy the moment)