of the cardinal flower
the last month of summer
has not been a time for us to be here in the Smokies,
for decades we have returned
to home and work in the piedmont
before August is halfway over,
a bittersweet sign for us to say goodbye to our mountain summer
has been the first appearance of the cardinal flower,
as if following Kodak's advice,
it lives a brilliant red to draw the eye to it,
within a world so green
that the eye can be lost
within a grand wash of chlorophyll,
we return today to the mountains,
and the cardinal flowers, some of which we have planted,
welcome us with their hellos,
with the clarity and sureness they calmly assert,
it is good to be centered by such a reality.
by Henry H. Walker
August 19, ‘26
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