Aphids and Thrips

I was sad the day

I learned that ants do not

tickle the petals open

as they glut them selves full with

the sugars of the ample bud

across the surface of the peony.

I was at a loss

for how now to hold

the friendship.

Is it enough to know

that they are really there

to eat their fill and as 

they do to sting, bite, or

spray acid on the aphids 

and the thrips that mean

certain harm to the flower -

tossing them off the plant.

It is enough.

Is it enough to know that

when a scout ant finds the

nectar, she will return to the 

nest from which she came

leaving a trail of pheromones

all along her way.  Wee, 

wee, wee.  Advertising

FREE BUFFET with every

trace; calling all ants with 

aching bellies and 

hungry hearts.

It is enough.

It is enough because 

the ants and the peony 

conspire together for

beauty.

It is enough because

that symbiosis is

something we could all

choose to wangle, connive, 

and devise a bit more.

To ourselves - with others -

bring

more beauty into the

spaces in which we abide.

To bring pure glory

to the blue vase and

beyond.