Natural progression

close up photo of a white bottlebrush flower, partly in bloom
White bottlebrush

Fists tightly curled up,
babies unravel slowly—
bottlebrushes, too.

Dying

close up photo of a freshly-fallen lacebark flower on a bed of dried, old leaves

Angelic flower
lays on a bed of autumn
disintegrating.

Wrapped

close up photo of a white magnolia flower in a sunny day, its petals curled

Wrapped up in itself,
curling in the winter sun—
garden magnolia.

Yogi

Close up photo of the bud of a native hibiscus.

A flower, content,
retreating into child’s pose,
fades away slowly.

Flowering

close up photo of a bunch of white crape myrtle flowers on the tree

A white so cooling,
on sweltering summer days,
crape myrtle blossoms.