“You must do something to make the world more beautiful. ” — Barbara Cooney, Miss Rumphius 

The Lupine Lady scatters
seeds around the emerald
edge of her seaside town.

Helped by wind and fowl,
they sprout all over. Children
gather the blooms as they grow—
veritable armfulls of violet
and indigo.

I wonder again at the mystery
that gave the flower its name.

Is it because of its snout-like shape,
elongated and tapered, ending
in a tight-lipped maw? Because its palmate
leaves look like tiny claws?
Is there violence in its violet petals,
wolfish hunger in its predatory stalks?

The lupines tell the children: if you want
to make the world more beautiful,
you first must learn to howl.