【Written by Caroline Richards】

Will I ever encounter a sight so vivid
as you in our garden today? Brushing
amaryllis petals with your gentle thumb,
stroking the arched-back ferns and leaf axils. 
Such tenderness for a creature so big—
I swore I saw the tulips blush at your touch, 
your broad shoulders bent to study the tiny 
veins lacing their midnight skin. 

This sunlit space is taken by you
as much as you are by me. So much so
that when your brass voice crosses the yard 
to reach mine, the flowers swing those bright 
heads towards me, the crowd of perfect faces 
waning green. And it is something indescribable: 
to feel envied by a flower.