Blue Lobelia

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

The blue lobelia has arisen

and opened its mouths to

the bumblebees.

These are the days to take

nothing for granted.

That droning cicada might be the last.

That creaking katydid might be the last.

The butterflies are lying, spent, on the ground.

The warblers are starting to sneak away in the night.

The squirrels are frantic.

There is no acorn mast this year.

They wonder how they will ever gather

and open enough walnuts and hickories

to make it through.

Odds are, many of them won’t.

Death frightens.

Maybe I’ll put out corn this winter.

Have I taken the time to search out 

a bird's nest and count the eggs?

Have I sat long enough among 

the tall meadow flowers?

Have I told the fat, rough-bodied toads 

how truly lovely they are?

Have I let at least one mystery 

take hold of me?

What will it be like when the first flurries come?

Will I look back, wondering where I had been all this time?

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author
From "Plant Songs" (a work in progress)

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