If I ever need a quick something from the store,
there is a nearby pharmacy I can walk to in minutes,
a walk I’ll gladly make in almost any kind of weather,
but I especially love it on these spring/summer days.

Along the way, I pass by a closed down restaurant,
a family favorite that fell just before the pandemic.
I was sad to see it go, for all of the memories made there
and I think about their beauty as I pass by.

Around this still standing shell of a building,
the landscaping is gradually being reclaimed by nature.
Untended gardens now burst in a myriad of colors,
flowers I would name if I knew anything about flowers.

There are oranges and yellows in star-shapes with slender petals
and my favorite is a white kind with a deep purple center.
They stand like queens over the garden
with butterflies and bumblebees coming to pay homage.

This all strikes as a different kind of beauty
which only blossomed because nobody cared.
These persistent plants fill a space that would
otherwise look like everything else.

All this makes it just another place to draw inspiration from
in daily battles with feeling like not a lot of people care.
Untended, I grow on my own, which then helps me discover
all the beautiful ways that life keeps going on.