Dressed in luxuriant yellow <br />You can find her everywhere. <br />She crops up in green meadows <br />And well-manicured lawns <br />In picayune cracks of aged walls <br />Or along concrete sidewalks <br />In the heart of downtown <br />‘Dent de lion' the lion's tooth. <br /> <br />Some call her Wild Endive. <br />An admirable and humble flower <br />In spring her strong taproots <br />Send up through naked stems <br />Dazzling bright and intrepid blossoms <br />And white botanical lactic juice. <br />Kind, gentle and beautiful Dandelion <br />She is spiritual and eccentric <br />A celibate perennial wild plant <br />That has refused to live a sex life. <br /> <br />Her ovaries produce fertile seeds <br />Without having to be pollinated. <br />Her yellow flowers slowly turn <br />Into silvery white puffballs <br />Fitted with tufts that fly in the wind <br />Like a myriad of tiny parachutes. <br /> <br />Why are we so cruel to her? <br />She is so peaceful, tender and charming <br />A marvel of nature, tonic and stimulant <br />The medicinal plant ‘taraxacum officinale'. <br />She promotes health and removes poisons <br />And can be turned <br />Into fabulous salad greens <br />Or even into tea and wine. <br /> <br />So why do we hate her so much? <br />Why do we kill her in our gardens? <br />Why do we poison her <br />With deadly chemicals <br />Which harm Mother Earth and Us? <br /> <br />O, gracious dandelion <br />I ask for your forgiveness and apologize.<br /><br />Paul Hartal<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/apology-to-a-dandelion/
