The Wildflower Project

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Ground laid bare around the white picket fence
bordering the garden and edging the sidewalk.

The grass had been torn up to reveal the dirt,
dark and inviting to life, a bed of opportunity.

Seeds were scattered from packets,
a mix of colors that would come in, in weeks.

Wildflowers springing from the fertile ground, 
erratic stalks, each topped by a riot of color.

But the garden is picked and preened
straightening stalks, arranging and curating.

Day after day, she is there working
to make the flowers do what she wants of them.

Wildflowers, forced to conform to her eye,
as she stands back in the street to assess aesthetic. 

When you manicure, orchestrate, and force
the wild into a pattern you desire, is it still wild?

© Emma Steel