Flowers

         Happy flowers, the ones given on Valentine’s Day, anniversaries and birthdays. Given as a symbol of love and appreciation. They bring joy and color into the recipient’s life, just as they bring the same into yours.

 

         There are sad flowers, seen at funerals and those gently rested on gravestones, maybe given to bring beauty to such a sad, solemn setting. Or maybe to represent that life is cruel, and that all things beautiful eventually decay, and that we should appreciate them while they’re here.

 

         Angry flowers are often seen ripped from the ground or smashed from their delicate vases, surrounded by harsh words and hot tears.

         Apologetic flowers, often the ones a boyfriend gives his girlfriend after their first fight. Those with a note that say, “I’m Sorry” whom you send to an elderly neighbor who just lost their spouse of 50 years to the tortures of cancer. You give flowers because words are flat, and are lost in the air once said, but flowers are more palpable than words. They are sometimes what is needed when words can’t help.

         Nervous flowers are held within the hands of an anxious bride. Her bouquet shakes with excitement as she meets her prince at the altar.

         Then there are flowers for the in-between. The ones that stand in a vase in the kitchen, or those potted along the front walkway. You pass them by in an open field along the highway. Flowers are the color we add to our dull lives.

by JK