Perennials

heady peony scent
the bee buzzes in sweet sap –
waiting for the bus

I smile out of the
photo as the prized dahlia
purples my fingers

Mother struggles with
harsh prairie wind to nurture
roses iris gentility

birthday roses glimpsed
through memory – the bush grows lush
in my thoughts

veronica invades
the kitchen garden – sits with
sweet honeysuckle

sweet Cuthbert Grant grips
the soil and clings to life –
small blooms wrung from thorns

my mother’s thorns
also struggle in my
English garden