Might as Well Bloom

(Poetry) "Despair too is a seed planted."

“Reach” (2010) 35mm © Annie Hendrix

Might as well bloom. There’s no time 
to regret. No time to whither or curl

Might as well live. Wilting yields wilting,
but a bloom yields a thousand blooms.

Bitter hopelessness returns each year,
to birth its bed of tangled weeds.

When proliferation yields despair
Might as well pinch off the seeds.

When do we speak of flowers?
When do we speak of despair?

Despair too is a seed planted. It may
bloom for a time, then disappear.