While I am not
Hansel or Gretel
and never expected anyone to leave me
a breadcrumb trail


so I could find my way
back to you
yet there was a trail of sorts
more piquant than pepporcorns
more subtle than bergamot
left
to my own devices
I instinctively
followed the blooms
made a fetish of purple
and took my chance
with nothing to lose
but the try
and so I began letting the flowers
show their petals forth
proud as pansies
morning glory
or braided like pigtails
Winter vetch
and socially awkward
as Western aster
aster's sister
plainly plaintive
chicory
other flowers figured forth
to point the way
most of them thistles
or so I thought
I don't know if
it's because of natural selection
or the survival of the fittest
or because certain adaptations
are so successful
that it doesn't make any sense
to imagine that there should be others
or could be others
or disappointed with what presents itself
and is just there
to see
and smell
and touch
I believe this is true
of thistle and its sister
burdock
that first surprised me
with her oddly broad leaves
rhubarb confident

and reluctant blooms
and guarded flowers

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Hansel or Gretel

a breadcrumb trail



back to you
yet there was a trail of sorts
more piquant than pepporcorns
more subtle than bergamot
left
to my own devices
I instinctively
followed the blooms
made a fetish of purple
and took my chance
with nothing to lose
but the try
and so I began letting the flowers
show their petals forth
proud as pansies
morning glory

Winter vetch

as Western aster

plainly plaintive
chicory

to point the way
most of them thistles
or so I thought
I don't know if
it's because of natural selection
or the survival of the fittest
or because certain adaptations
are so successful
that it doesn't make any sense
to imagine that there should be others
or could be others
or disappointed with what presents itself
and is just there
to see
and smell
and touch
I believe this is true
of thistle and its sister
burdock

with her oddly broad leaves
rhubarb confident




that turn to burrs

when you turn your back
or pick up your pace
sensing the light begin to dim
but leaving burdock aside
and returning to thistle
even here
there were many guides
competing for my attention
globe
Scotch
swamp
nodding
field
Pitcher's
Hill's
plumeless
bull
swamp
and Canada too
globe










I followed all these prickly dots
and realized
as I neared home
that thistle in itself
is a marriage of
clover
and dandelion


and the purple
while pleasing
is not necessary
consider
if you will
sow thistle
which is fully Irish
the yellow tam
to match the Scotch
and when at last
I arrived back
at my door
having navigated
the weeds
with the aid of the flowers
I concluded
that Nature
is amply plentiful
for poet's play or pedestrian path
amply practical
for Hansel or Gretel.
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