unapologetic bloom (tanka #23)

Flowers have no modesty—they display their full beauty without reservation or apology. They have been teaching me lately about how to embrace the blooming process as a Black woman. As I write this, I can hear Lucille Clifton, one of my poetry ancestors, speak a line from one of her poems, bloom how you must i say.

There are seasons when the flower remains tight in the bud as they gather the resources and rest necessary. It is a very intimate and internal process where being nourished is of the utmost importance. I don’t know what activates the blooming process, but once it begins, the bud cracks open to make way for such beauty and brilliance. I have never found a person that cannot stand flowers or has demanded that a flower not be so bright. Has anyone ever asked the gardenia to smell like lavender? The audacity even!! I saw an interview clip recently where Maya Angelou also said she has no modesty, but she does hope to have humility. The cherry blossoms with all of its vibrancy, has the humility to recognize its place in an interdependent ecosystem because they are connected to roots and dependent on soil, sun, and rain. The cherry blossoms acknowledge the cherry blossom ancestors who have nurtured the soil. One day, this flower will nurture another. Bloom in the now. Bloom! “Modesty is dangerous.” Humility does not ask the flower to be something else, or that its scent be less potent, or that it remain in the cage of the bud that once held it. Humility is an honest relationship with one’s place in this vast field of calla lilies. There is splendor here. There is mutuality here.

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