A poem and a link

(Photo from a garden tour 1.5 years ago; not actually a rose...but still very lovely)

When the Roses Speak, I Pay Attention by Mary Oliver from "Thirst" (Beacon Press)

"As long as we are able to
be extravagant we will be
hugely and damply
extravagant. Then we will drop
foil by foil to the ground. This
is our unalterable task, joyfully."

And they went on, "Listen,
the heart-shackles are not as you think,
death, illness, pain,
unrequited hope, not loneliness, but

lassitude, rue, vainglory, fear, anxiety,
selfishness."

Their fragrance all the while rising
from their blind bodies, making me
spin with joy.

Mary Oliver brings life and value and intelligence to all creatures in her poetry.

Do plants really have intelligence? Recent science reveals they do!
Read this excellent New Yorker piece by Michael Pollan titled "The Intelligent Plant."