.... We are experiencing a few days of lovely warm weather here in the south-east.  The garden is not looking its best, apart from the nasturtiums which I planted quite late in the summer. 

They are beautiful colours;  orange, flame, fuschia,  gorgeous and heart lifting; I picked a few so I could have them near me indoors.....   here they are! Enjoy......

 

Cyclamen  

For all the world it was dust,      

a discarded no-hoper, crumbling

in a cracked, parched pot;

but saved by a glint of green

effortlessly threw itself into life

under soft autumn skies.

 

Uncurling leaf followed leaf

smooth as flecked marble,

shiny as leather, creamily veined.

Pressed for time, bud-furled parasols

set free flowers of crimson lake

to burst open all spring,

tossing back defiant heads

into the scudding breeze. 

 

© Sue Burley

 

(Published in "The Dawntreader", Issue 028, Autumn 2014)