Haiku 2023–171

the blooming thistle

beginning its long journey

into dormancy

— — —

My office sits at the end of a drive in a commercial industrial park that has quite a few vacant lots and building owners who don’t pay very close attention to their grounds. While these places can look a bit unkepmt, they do have moments of beauty contained within them. Take, for example, the thistles that sit right outside the front gate of the parking lot at my building. The contract with the landscapers is very clear — their responsibility ends at the gate. Several thistle plants have taken root in the no man’s land between the gate and the cul-de-sac. I first noticed them over the winter when the dried plants from the year continued to stand sentry at the gate long after other plants faded away. While not the green and pinkish-purple of their summer selves, I still found them to be stunningly beautiful. Now that summer is upon us, the thistles are in bloom providing a pop of color which I also appreciate. I know, however, that like summer itself, this color will fade as time passes by — but it’s really okay — the thistle will move on to its ‘second self’.