I sit here, among the flowers that now bloom
In the gentling dusk gilded by the quietly setting sun,
The peak of the once savage mountain where yesterday
I had crested and left behind, now just another bump.
Watching a hummingbird’s frantic darts
Seeking nectar from showy roses that can’t
Won’t satisfy and yet beckon with harlot’s hues.
Mine, I think. And know, I could do it again.
One more box, one lonely night, one stormy path,
At a time. One tear, one year, one paralyzing fear
Faced and brushed away, drowned in pinks as gaudy
As these flowers that bloom, this evening, in my home.
-alka
October 2019