—for Michael M.
magnificent hydrangea which
like slow fireworks explode
from the center of all
you remind me of my lost uncle
who threw your blossoms my way
in play when I was maybe five
and clear as innocence
—the uncle who disappeared, cut
from family
what human catastrophe
occurred which made you, for me,
Uncle Mike, just an essence of
hydrangea?
Jim Culleny
8/22/18
Blink 