Beauty in an Ark of Love

I will gather for you
bunches and bunches
of dandelions and poppies;
so we can save the seeds
and keep them safe
against the wiles of the
changing climate -
against the wiles of
greedy mankind and
our hearts of stone and crude.

I will gather for you
arm-fulls of daffodil and tulip
bulbs, shoots and tubers
that will become shooting-stars
and anemones, snowdrops and
bleeding heart, ginger and ginseng.

I will find a way to keep fiddle-heads
from drying out, and lotus seeds
from being smashed to dust.  I will
gather wintergreen and berries.  I will
shelter them in a safe place for you.

I will pull them close,
nursing them on the warmth
of my body; on the love
in my heart.  It is the least
I can do.  It is what I must do -
to keep beauty in your lives.

It is what I must do -
to help you keep
the hope of springtime
blossoms vibrant in your
heart that you will not
languish parched
by our wanton inability to keep
ourselves from making carbon
footprints instead of traces of
our soles in dirt and mud.

I will store beauty in
an ark of love so you may
remember; so you can help
your children to learn
the simple way of flowers
in the awakening of a soul
in the growing of a people.

Do not forget them, and try
if you are able, try to forgive us
for our wrongs against your lives
against the earth on which you stand.