To Avis Elaine
The flowers you loved
strew the shores
of my first seven years
Sometimes, in flower shops
they shout out their names
gerbera gladioli iris
Sometimes they sing to me
from a bouquet
only half-made
peonies pansies sweet pea
Sometimes they say all
and nothing at all
the way flowers do
cornflower carnations roses
Their scent is your shield of love
their leaves, the colour of your eyes
their petals, the clothes you clad me in
as child and as man