Wildflower Will by Holly Kirsten and Mindy Dillard

Wildflower Will
Holly Kirsten& Mindy Dillard
August 2023

Inside the cottage window
glinting stately in the sun,
Waterford waits for new blooms
to complement the linens
purposeful and pleasing
deceiving to the eyes
What good is a pretty flower
If it's going to wilt and die?

I see you looking at me

Outside the cottage window
in the heat of noonday bright,
I flail over parched soil,
thorns and grubs and mites
scars and scratches on my stem
With awkward, brilliant blooms
Roots so deep, I scatter seeds
I love that I take up room

I grow wild and I am free
Why must you try to cultivate me?
Keep your vase and fancy lace
I'm not meant to rot in place,
don't cultivate me

I've seen the way you curate–
Pruning, packing tight
roses lose their passion
to serve artisan's delight
I evade your vicious vase
With all that is within me
If you cut me I will come back
with ferocious certainty

Ch

I'm pervasive,
I'm persistent
Through your aim to claim and kill
You may badger
You may bully
You can't have my wildflower will

I grow wild and I am free
Why must you try to cultivate me?
Keep your vase and fancy lace
I'm not meant to rot in place,
Don't cultivate me