I heard about this plant, Mountain Mahogany, long before I ever saw it in person. When we finally saw one, a full-grown specimen, both my husband and I fell in love with it. The unique flowers/seeds were a bonus for me. When I look at the flowers my first thought is of those 4th of July sparklers I used to love as a kid…the ones where you would write your name in the night sky and watch it light up. It’s great evergreen bush to small tree and a terrific cover for wildlife.
The brainstorm

seeds burst into air
spring seed explosion
sunlit seeds explodes
seeds burst free
seeds pop in the sun
seeds burst in the sun
trails of white
white feathers
white streamers
floating
stream of feathery white
feathery white stream
leaving a feathery white stream
with a feathery white stream
swirls of sparkling feathers
swirling, sparkling feathers float
nature’s hope for more
seeds burst in the sun
swirling, sparkling feathers fly
somewhere a child smiles

Mountain Mahogany
from exploding seeds
sparkling feathers light the sky
somewhere a child smiles

@copyright Susan Taylor Brown
April 16, 2009