Through cracks between slabs

Of the concrete path around our complex

Little pansies

Escaped from wall borders

Raise tiny faces to sunlight and warmth,

Brilliantly gold and purple.

And the footfall is checked

Through choice.

 

Nobody steps on a sky-seeking flower.

Grown-ups miss by an inch

What with parcels and keys

And stuff on their minds.

Kids walk in the grass lifting kits clear.

Teens turn their bike wheels aside.

 

Nobody crushes a tiny flower.

And every single person smiles.

It is a lovely moment on a late afternoon

Watching from my window

People and pansies.

 

 

Cynthia Buell Thomas, October, 2020