Beauty Fades

She was a beautiful flower once. Once firm and thick, worn petals softly curl in their new thinning state until they whisper gossamer dreams to the rising sun, who replies with a warming glow just for her. The sun knows that she will go on, long after this fading beauty gently falls to the earth un-noticed and without a sound.

But for now, this delicate giver of life still stands tall, showing off her gown of lily white with lilac ribbons cradling her pollen- laden stamen. Comes now a bee, who heard the beckoning of her scent carried on a warm breeze, and gently touches down on her unfurled places. The bee starts gathering the pollen, the very essence of this lovely being who offers it so willingly with petals wide open. The bee hovers as she gathers the sticky pollen, her tiny legs bulging with the nectar of life, and when this little creature can’t collect another particle, she lumbers off to the hive where her bounty will be exalted.

Soon, more bees arrive to harvest the pollen that they’ve been told about, and hover and move together as they complete the taking of this beautiful flower’s life offering. It will be used to feed the next generation of their kind, the next selfless harvesters, who give life to us too in the form of crops and trees that provide us food.

The pollen is now safe with the tiny pollinators, riding on their tiny legs. Precious cargo. The flower’s petals have thinned to almost transparency, and her pretty lilac colors have faded but still adorn her, like worn ribbons. The sun sees this worn and tired flower, and gives her a last glance as she is hidden from view by the clouds building and slowing, the rain starts quietly and gently. It begins to rain harder, the grass and tree leaves shuddering from the heavy raindrops as the clouds pelt creation with life-giving water, necessary for new creation.

The raindrops fall heavily on her unfurled petals and a few particles of pollen splash out and land in the ground beneath the long slender stem, now teetering from the pressure. Then she falls to the wet ground, saturated and broken from the pounding rain and her fall to the earth. Her translucent petals are crinkled and curled, but still unfurled as a testament to her willingness to give of herself to give life. She was created for others to live , her bright colors and her heady scent are beacons created for those who will take her offering.

The earth will take her broken being and use her to create more of her kind. Is her existence lesser because she wasn’t in a cutting arrangement at a grocery store or a farmer’s market, to be admired by many? She was created, bloomed, gave and died in one spot- my garden. She was seen and admired as a tiny bud, checked on every day to see her progress, and gazed upon with eager anticipation to see her ready to bloom. I got to see this beauty on the day that she unfurled her petals, showing her inner self to the heavens. I admired her every day, even as her petals grew thin and tired, and lost their youthful shape. I got to see the very pollen that will sustain a little bee that I’ll soon see in my garden, scouting for a bumper crop of pollen to bring back for the next generation, that will I’ll see in my garden, scouting for that life-saving pollen.

Maybe I’m that flower. My petals are thin but they’re still unfurled for the heavens to see. My colors are no longer vibrant, but my spirit still beckons , petals wide open. That flower was created for purpose, a deliberate part of Creation. Maybe that’s why I see the beauty in spent flowers. And people.

I see you, little flower. Long after your beauty fades, I’ll still adore you. Because I’m just like you. And may blessings follow the pollinators who keep us alive, just as the faded white beauty gave them life, may they pass it on for all of our days.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful flower