Alpine Flower a Day: Mountain foxglove

Alpine Flower a Day: Day 19, Mountain foxglove (Ourisia macrophylla)

– little flowers on 50cm tall stalks with relatively big(macro) leaves (phylla)

– this one (of many) spotted in bush clearing just past Granity hut, Kahurangi

Unemployed at 50

That shining, that sprung up

from heathen leaf, such a base

for labour, even manager material,

all day he digs-in, calls out

to the tutelary sun, so close

to the beatings.

...

Haha just the first stanza – a teaser today – because I've decided I'm going to keep this one for my flora collection I'm working on - you'll have to buy the book when it gets finished!

I'm writing from Lake Tekapo, another mini writing retreat I'm on – my third already this year – I'm so lucky! and I'll be collecting some more botanical lovelies too. Oh no, I feel another poem coming on ...

I'm so lucky

because I have friends who love

writing because I live in a country

that has no community transmission

because I have children

who are growing up in a cracked house

that lets light in because I have

a body with lungs for walking because

I can head to Antarctica or steep

motherless pigs with love or bask in the presence

of a small flower on a whim because

outside this window there is a lake sparkling

with crushed rock

If you're interested in the inspiration behind this month-long series of 'An Alpine Flower A Day' about NZ alpine flowers and poems, you can find more in my first post: An Alpine Flower A Day Enjoy!