There is a love
which bears no tearing thorns
survives the drought of distance and difference
waits quietly in shade to rise in sun
from thick tough bulbous roots
holding the shifting soil
time would erode

giving succour
to broad evergreen leaves
clumped around that
slowly rising stalk
crowned by a
soft protective sheath
that, in air and light, breaks
to free a multitude of florets
radiating from that central stem.
Small bell-shaped
violet-blue or white
theirs is the choral song
of sturdy friendship.

In an age of enlightenment
a botanist named them
agape ­ anthos
flowers of love.

Published in Pomegranates (Lythrum Press, 2003).