Premature Pulling at the Botanical Gardens
Linda Leedy Schneider
Acres of purple mums flourished.
Like reckless dancers they surrendered
to the rhythms of waves of wind,
charming in the way only truth,
innocent of its beauty, can be.
Then came the premature pulling
for perfection’s sake. A musty
layer of mulch covers the earth
where the lavender ladies
could have completed their dance,
returned to the soil. Become eternal.