Saturday 27 February 2021

Daffodils

They said it on the radio:
Thousands of pounds worth of daffodils 
left unpicked in Cornwall;
Fields of potential
losing their bloom
to the rotting stench of missed opportunity.
The harvest is ready, he said
But the workers too few. 

Meanwhile, 
Brenda sits at her dining table
Reeling with shock at how quickly 
Jack's cough became his permanent absence
The added twist of the Mothers' Day knife
in her husbandless, childless gut.

Yet gratitude
as well as grief
catches in her throat:
There are flowers and a note and love on the table
delivered by the lady from church

who has been doing this kind of thing for years,
but much more systematically 
since getting recognition
from the new minister

who has a good eye for systems 
and is flourishing in this role
she never would have explored
if not encouraged by a deacon back home

who was so inspired 
by the prophetic vision
of the speaker at that event

who was surprised 
but pleased 
to be invited by her regional minister

who has felt humbled
by the quality of support
he's received from his colleague

who was that tired of all the 
malevolent and
"benevolent" and
systemic
sexism 
everywhere
that she almost quit,
if not for her mentor

who for many years was unsure of her own voice 
and worked hard to find it and share it
and help others find theirs, 
and each other's
and God's
and delights in what she hears 
from these folk coming through
and prays 
and hopes 
and speaks out for change
that they might not be trampled
but helped to bloom.

And so it is
that a vase of the daffodils 
that did get picked
now sits on Brenda's table;
bright and bold and defiant
heralding golden glimmers
of a harvest of hope.

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