Lucy Dale

Late Bloomer

I bloom late in the season, 
like a Russian Sage. I stay away, 
in the background of the spring 
and summer months, waiting, 

always waiting. I am marked 
perennially carefree as I stand 
behind the early bloomers who show 
their petals before the trees 

are decent, and the summer colors, 
that are picked by sticky adolescents 
and savored in dry books for years 
to come. The Russian Sage needs 

full sun and well-drained soil, 
so I spend hours in the garden, 
trimming, repositioning, watering, 
waiting, always waiting. In August, 

I bloom three-foot flowers. 
The Russian Sage is a soft, gray-
blue and like me, it acts as the perfect 
compliment to other, sharper, lavender 

flowers. I bloom into a dull flower, 
like a Russian Sage. Long-lived 
and drought-tolerant, I repel the deer 
and the rabbits. I wait and bloom late.