As I stand there one day
A cool May day
The flower peaks through
Pink and exciting
Vibrant and inviting

The flower squirms through
A little frail stem between the two grand guardhouses
That are nothing but fence panels

The flower bucks through
Its fuchsia heart leaves
Dangling

The flower bolts through
Bright as a midsummer sun
Viewed through the glass of grandma’s pickling jars

The flower maneuvers
The flower shoves
The flower bursts

The flower spans
In defying those who oppose it
In wiggling past one white giant
And then the other
The flower spans

The flower is no conqueror
No William the Conqueror
No Charlemagne
No Caesar
No Alexander, or Napoleon, or Khan, or Cortes

The flower does not break down walls
Or doors
Or steel cages
That is not its purpose

This flower aims to do just what it is doing now
Spanning
Reaching
Connecting

Because those imposing opaque giants still stand
Their anger still daunting
Their hate still strong-felt
Bolstering the divide

But it is all undermined by one lowly flower
One who spans the divide
One who reaches the divide
One who connects it all
No, no Charlemagne indeed
But no less important