Not merely the undergrowth
Trophy hanging here on this fence,
From a parking lot, infiltrating a bed
Wandering alleles bedazzle me,
In their red, orange and yellow array
Nectar stripes guiding your ancestral partners,
Down vertical, zygomorphic lines
To dust and be dusted
They redefine petal fashion
Deeply-stained daggars,
Are mirror images pointing north, south, east and west
Necessary adaptations,
In an unforgiving time for your kingdom
Part of me wants to crush you and your self-fertilized family members,
To reveal your molecular mystery on a Coomassie stained gel
How do you achieve such solid burnt orange and sun kissed yellow lemons?
Homozygosity, heterozygosity, polymorphic displays -
Posttranscriptional, posttranslational modifications?
Splicing and dicing? RNA editing?
How do you smear and spray color like that?
Gentle displays of variation along rows,
Families clearly marked by clones,
Each patch designated by a coat of arms
I wish I can find out myself,
For now, I will relish in these peppery vapors
And nibble when there is time,
Like today