Flowers for offerings

flowers3, originally uploaded by c_p_lew.

Dear Flower Lady,

Flowers so clean and pure,
gathered for offerings,
good luck in traveling,
welcoming a birth or
sending someone on the path
after death.

Flowers so rich in color and fresh
clean smell.
The aroma pushes back the scents of the market,
the colors relieve the sights of
brown dripping liquid from bruised fruit,
corn husks attracting flies in the gutter.

The breath of the garden
makes me forget the slippery mud under my feet,
and the cries of chickens in the cages.
The flowers are good income -
I know, I hear you telling your friends.

I know this, and when I smell in the flowers
with the incense in the temple or at the shrines,
I meditate on how these
roots, loosened from clinging to the soil
remind us all
of life, fragile as the petal.

Yours truly,
A Satisfied Customer