The cluster of yucca plants by my driveway has bloomed twice this year, each time many stems grow tall, bloom and fade and I cut them down. Then this one stalk appeared, but something about the weather or the season prevented it from stretching above the leaves, so it bloomed surrounded by the plant’s green.
It’s a late bloomer, like me. Most people who know me now have no idea how slow I was to learn to think for myself. I got good grades and succeeded mostly by doing what I was told.
I began thinking of myself as a poet in my 20s, but it did not occur to me that there is a teachable craft to writing until I was able to join workshops – not classes – many years later. (I don’t mean things like grammar, which are important to communicate; I’ve known those rules since childhood.)
Once you know the rules of a craft, it’s much more fun to learn how and when they can be broken.
It makes possible surprises like these well-shaped blooms surrounded by green.
freethoughtandmetaphor 