A Cloud with a Pin Through It

I would like to always be a flower

Belly up to the world

Petals and leaves, 

Fern with palms 

Always outstretched.

I don't want to curl my soft parts in 

when it gets cold and dark,

to be a bud, waiting and hard and small,

or the apple after the fruit has formed:

Petals transform to sugar and meat --

Why can't I stay soft and beautiful?

Must I be useful?

Patience requires acceptance,

to live in all three of time’s gowns

Empathy is a drug

The petals on the water,

A cloud stuck in a tree, turning orange 

because it's catching the dawn

Feeling something other 

than yourself

To prove -

Nothing is lonely

Christie Flemming