When Flowers Speak, Listen

As I walked in the Beauty and Wonder of Alaska in the last decade, flowers spoke to me, saying, "Take my picture. Write a poem about me." Flowers are never isolated, but are connected with everything that is before them, beside them, under them, and over them. Flowers both clothe and reveal the spirit of nature. A flower poem is nature magically revealing itself. I often capitalize Beauty, Wonder, Tenderness, and Kindness as names for God. At a time when the name, God, is abused and associated with a conservative judgmental spirit, these poems allow me to speak a daisy fresh freeing message. Most of the flower poems were written in the depth of Alaska winters, a time of almost total darkness. This adventurous activity, created in me an invincible spring and summer. Photos and poems bring their own sunshine that warms our soul. Flowers speak Tenderness and the magic of Wonder.