threadbare mauve
zinnia of the bunch:
it's enough
to give me courage
watching you flaunt
the first frost
with that kind
of pluck—but also
more than enough
to get me thinking:
wouldn't it just
be amazing
if there wasn't so much
stiff competition
out here among us?
That way,
the last man standing
wouldn't be
haughtily declared
the winner,
but instead
viewed devoutly as
totem of grief
who must
hold this poignant vigil
over all his lost
brothers.
