Going To Seed

“...fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf” As the Bard penned, describes eloquently How old age steals up on us like a thief At night, invisible and silently We frown at the mirror in disbelief At wrinkles, lost teeth and vitality So, something that brings a smile to one’s face Helps roll back the years and glumness displace The label promises blooms from this box Each yellow sunflower yields thousands of seeds Which lure insects in swarms and birds in flocks Its cousin, cosmos, will out-climb the weeds Nigella (or love-in-a-mist) grows stocks Of blue flowers enough for all our needs Oh, and then there’s the lovely red poppy No other garden flower can copy. Antirrhinum (from Greek) means `like a nose’ Called snapdragon it opens for a bee A cold weather plant that can survive snows Midget, medium or tall it might be But each red, white, pink or yellow bloom glows Like a hot ember incandescently Last, lavender exquisitely scented If they all grow, I’ll be well contented