Where once I may have seen
the petals curl to brown,
the wilted flower fall,
an empty stem remain
disconsolate and thin,
or seen the gardener cull
for purposes unknown
a blossom in its spring,

I’ve learned to see a sprout,
still green and undefined,
but full of something new,
outgrow its old, confined
façade, and bloom into
a finer shape, and out.