Bloodroot

Free Verse Poem by Barbara Simmons

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…ants carry bloodroot seeds from place to place…every spring I’m thrilled to find new bloodroot plants popping up, surprising me in my garden…

So writes Nancy, a friend from Maine, observing the white blossoms
of bloodroot showing up where she hadn’t planted seeds,
each revealing its sole flower, retiring at dusk.

I carry seeds of stories deep inside,
waiting to emerge.

The squirrels I’ve seen scurry from their almost
death, maybe a story of good luck.

A double rainbow filling the sky
with ROYGBIV reversed
to VIGBYOR, filling my eyes with
redorangeyellowgreenblueindigoviolet twice.

Moments of family fragmentations,
torn ties, unsutured stories, until

slowly
slowly
slowly

my bloodroot blossoms whiten,
finding themselves flowers,
ready to re-curl at dusk.

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Barbara Simmons, shaped by the vibrant contrasts of both Boston and California, channels the essence of these coastal influences into her profound poetry. As a retired educator, she embraces the richness of life and language, employing words as vessels for remembrance, vision, celebration, lamentation, and the pursuit of understanding.