Hydrangea

Nikko Blue Hydrangea
Photo from pnwgardener.com

colonies crowded
with dewy blue faces
weep at the racing of time
watching summer retreating
they know that their
seasonal escapades halt
in the first frost of night
so they give up their petals
like delicate memoirs
to gallivant deer
adolescent and hungry
to know what the blossoms
have learned about life
what remains of their
foreshortened splendor
is carried away by the
cool garden breezes
that augur an early
arrival of autumn
when deep dreamless sleep
settles into their branches
and quiets their stems
until spring tickles urges
that draw upon snowmelt
to nourish new flowering
colonies crowded
with dewy blue faces