What a gathering – the purple
tongues of iris licking out
at spikes of lupine, the orange
crepe skirts of poppies lifting
buttercup and daisy.
Who can be grim
in the face of such abundance?
There is nothing to compare,
no need for beauty to compete.
The voluptuous rhododendron
and the plan grass
are equally filled with themselves,
equally declare the miracles
of color and form.
This is what community looks like
this vibrant jostle, stem by stem
declaring the marvelous joining.
This is the face of communion,
the incarnation once more
gracefully resurrected from winter.
Hold these things together
in your sight – purple, crimson,
magenta, blue. You will
be feasting on this long after
the flowers are gone.
- Lynn Ungar, in The Artist’s Rule by Christine Valters Paintner