Poppies are blooming all over these days and the colors are predictably gorgeous. Red ones really pop in the landscape and orange California poppies pave roadsides. Last night I got a fistful of purple poppy seeds from a neighbor. Mixed with red ones from another neighbor (that I forgot to plant last year) I’m imagining a glorious display next summer. This time I’ve made a note on the calendar to plant them. I hope it works to remind me.
Haven’t seen too many poppies around here and was not aware of the wonderful array of colors. I’ll have to check to see if I can plant them in cold Minnesota.
Internet says poppies can flourish in Minnesota. Well, now, that gives me an idea!
Posting a poem by Mary Oliver, a little long but worth reading. Life can be very good!
POPPIES
by Mary Oliver
The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation
of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn’t a place
in this world that doesn’t
sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage
shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,
black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.
But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,
when it’s done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,
touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—
and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?
~ from New and Selected Poems, Vol. I (Beacon Press, 1993)
An outstanding photo, Kay. The exposure is perfect. That poppy is so sharp it reminds me of pink crepe paper! I really have no idea what that “totem” was all about!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a poppy with such a colour. It’s so beautiful!