life opening

"for there is hope for a tree,
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
though it grow old in the earth
and its stump die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put out branches like a young plant."
- Job 14:7-9

it started as a couple sticks protruding through the frozen earth.  so unimpressive that i didn't think to photograph it.  so bland that i stuck a hideous pink flamingo lawn ornament into the soil beside it. 

i didn't notice it begin to open. its growth was shadowed by daffodils, irises, and lilies that bloomed around it. 

yet despite my oblivion, it came to life:

it buds.

and blooms.

until the flowers overflow.

and in my heart, i begin to look for those ignored places of life. the ones shadowed by other things. the places that look like dead branches in an unforgiving earth. and i hope and wait for the scent of water to come and bring life.