Wallflower

(A poem of love and loneliness)

Speak to my heart, let me know you are here. There are so many things I want to say. I feel closed off, abandoned, shuttered away from what is real and true. So much pain and sorrow, so many empty promises.

You see my beauty, but you don’t really understand. I am a wallflower that you’ve placed aside for decoration. You look upon me with wonder, but no longer care to water my petals. I am growing in a place that is closed off and secluded.

Being loved from afar is not the same as being in love. I want to feel the sun on my face, I want to feel the water as it graces my stems. I want to move away from the darkness, no longer a decoration. I want to be loved. To feel that kiss upon my softness, to be caressed by the Gardner that knows just how to grow my roots.

He will pluck me from the wall, and he will place me within his keeping. He will nourish and sustain my need to flourish. The groundskeeper will never even notice that I am gone, for I am just one of his many wallflowers, surrounded by others, yet alone. He has kept me and sheltered me, grew me like a good caretaker should.

But this Gardner has plucked me, and watered my petals only. He gave me something I never knew I really wanted. He gave me his tenderness, his time, showed me what it felt like to be centered and adored. He gave me my own flower pot, and then tended to me each day. My broken petals that were left to dry, he kissed them and brought them back to life. He placed me in the sun, and now I no longer want the shadows.

The groundskeeper will never notice I am gone, until the spot that I once rested turns to rust. Then he will wonder about his wallflower, a rose that he had mistaken for a daisy.