Rebel Flowers

(from Within My Illusions)

There’s a voice inside my head
That says I’m wasting time,
That I’m supposed to follow a straight line
And not spread myself out all over the place,

That I stretch too far beyond my territory,
That I’m not behaving the right way,
That I could use more discipline.

The voice was loud this morning,
But I was louder as it scolded me
About all the things I had yet to complete.
“Just stop!” I proclaimed,
“I’m taking a walk.”

About a mile away from home,
I was thinking about a poem
When I was distracted
By my neighbor’s yard.

Don’t those flowers know
That they’re supposed to grow
Straight up from the ground
And not sideways through cracks in stone walls?

Perhaps someone ought to tame them back
Before beauty becomes unruly.