Alpine Flower a Day: Tāranga

Alpine Flower a Day: Day 20, Tāranga, Long-leafed pimelea (Pimelea longiflora)

– rose-flushed clusters of tiny flowers in a bunch, each floret about the size of my palm on a small shrub with long leaves

– in the sub-alpine scrub at the edge of the bush, 1000-acre plateau, Kahurangi NP

Thank-you to those I don't love

after Wistawa Szymborska

For not having to wipe the bench every morning,

I am grateful to you.

The small-talk clattering of politics

I can turn off in my sleep

is welcome.

Your hearts and likes

for small flowers like tāranga

are given in freedom.

Waiting for an email from you when I am away

is an irritation, not an eternal longing.

An exhaustion in my fingers and back

from all I do to keep your following

can go without saying.

When I perform my poems

at an event you can hear that

which love can choose to, or not.

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!