Close up…

Such a lovely shade of peachy-pink, not quite sickly candy-sweet. Swirls, sunset reflected waves broken on a distant beach.

Deep coal heart, imperfectly symmetrical. Flawed, repeated, differently identical. A not so quite tamed randomness and dark star centre.

Fresh until the rain falls. A single clumsy smudge from spoilt. Creasing silk of petal, purple pollen to mascara dip then drip to stain the path beneath.

Dip, drip, drip - gone with a single gullible gust.

My oriental poppy, a life short lived in close up. A life blown large as any other.