Poem: Let Your Flowers Show

Let Your Flowers Show

Upon these pages strange tales I tell

Of one returning to the north from sun

Endlessly burning the earth to only sand

There in the heat I did sojourn at rest

From the relentless northern snows only

To climb those southern hills to find more snow.

Caught in a quandary of homesickness there

I climbed from the low desert heat to the 

Hills covered in snow and rested in sun

On snowbanks cold. It was there that I found 

A restlessness in my soul so that I

Could not shake wanting to be somewhere else

No matter where I roamed. There cactus grows

Slowly, contemplating rain, satisfied

With only a few drops now and then to 

Quench their thirst and they give thanks with flowers

Maybe once ev’ry other year, toiling

Slowly in desert sun, thankful for

Drops that seldom come from the sky above.

And me? I travel far and wide looking

Always for more, be it water, sun or

Storm. So there on high mountain top in snow

I came to know that while I still may roam

It’s not where I go or where I have been

But what is within that I do know.

For even in desert I can find snow,

And in forests of rain I can be dry

But it’s peace that’s within that will make me

Grow with weathering time and people dear

To me that I can let my flowers show.

April 2023

About This Poem

I was looking at pictures from a trip to Palm Springs and combining thoughts of restlessness with the knowledge that I just need to be content wherever I am. Typically I am content, but sometimes we all get a little stir crazy and need to be reminded to stay grateful and content. That's probably where this came from, but I don't fully remember what caused me to write this particular sentiment. The photo is a blooming cactus from that Palm Springs trip.