In the Cracks

I was born in the dirt between the cracks 

Away from the garden

I grew up standing alone in the pavement

Isolated from my kind 

I watched them from afar 

Season after season 

When their heads turned toward the sun 

Their stems curved in the rain

And how their leaves swayed in the wind 

As they protected each other in the storm 

I would do the same 

Alone

They would laugh at me 

The way my thin yellow petals draped around my face 

The fact that no aroma emitted from me 

While they, in their bright red, pink, and blue dresses danced in the sunlight

I watched as they were tended 

Noses sniffing them

Water drizzling them 

I yearned for those same hands 

That same love 

I wanted to move 

Not just in the wind 

I wanted to be where they were

Be who they are

And one day

My wishes were granted 

A familiar hand wrapped around my stem 

My ends wretched in agony

For the first time

I escaped the cracks

I was leaving 

And then I was falling

Falling into a grey container 

Others were there and 

Me 

The others of my kind 

Not the bright reds, pinks, and blues 

Yellow, ordinary like me 

I fitted in 

Finally

I escaped those cracks