Petals dropping off.
One by one.
Ground drying up.
Stems becoming brittle
Green has turned to brown
The heads of flowers droop
in exhaustion.
Yet something is ripening.
The last vitality of the plant
is receding from outward show
to inward settledness.
Vitality is being carefully packaged,
preserved,
in abundance,
for a season and a harvest
yet to come.
Stripped…
yet a promise to rise again.