Today I Saw Daisies

Today I saw daisies for the first time—
bodies of orange joy on upsloped wings
insect suns swarming above the grass
butterflies and moths— sundisks light with wing
rippling white limbs flexing in air
sweeping and staying— moving in a wave
unfurling in the palm of the sky.

These were not the blooms I had known
but bright angels flowering the world—
gardeners of grace harvesting the sunlight
butterflies mouthing their own wingbeats
asking nothing for their power
thrusting nowhere but where they grew
high and green without desire.


—Eric Nelson