Thistle and its sister

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

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

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.