ODE TO PHLOX

Is there a prettier flower than the Phlox?
In my life there were Phlox at my grandmother's house
on Schoolcraft
Every summer we would water them.


They were white and light pink and dark pink
Maybe purple too
They were the tallest and bushiest of the flowers
I think she bought them at Hudsons.


We would go down the fence
Watering the flowers
I looked at the Phlox the most because
they were a flower that was many flowers
and I loved to smell them and study them
and just look at them.


Now I have Phlox in my garden that is messy
not neat like Mom's (we called our grandmother
Mom, like her children did)
This hot wet summer my Phlox are the most
beautiful they've ever been
It was always this hot in those old days
I wonder if Mom sees my Phlox