I stopped writing about people.
I gave them up for a wildflower.
Since I made up those people anyway,
They are none the wiser.
You can’t ghost ghosts.
(In fact, that’s true in several ways—
A topic to explore after I’m done with flowers.)

The specific flower—
Engelmannia peristena—
Is more than a flower as are all.
Composite, cut leaf, lofty,
Sturdy stem:
It beautifies roadsides
Dapples piñon-juniper woodlands
And brightens the desert scrub.

It is loved by millions,
Those being hummingbirds
Bees
Butterflies
Deer
Sheep
Goats
Cows
Rabbits
And more.

Intrepid botanical that it is
It sends its taproot deep
Into sand, clay, or caliche,
Hugging the ground
Holding it against erosion
Taking as little water as is possible.

This generous stalwart daisy
Is holding the very Earth together.
And it never wonders if
You love it
Or if
You love it not.