Fragile Beauty.

It drew my eye like a struck match in the darkness
Flickering there in the cold morning breeze
Its head bowed down as though in silent prayer.

The red and yellow crown vibrant atop a thin jagged stem
Shone out like a halo against an ocean of green
I knelt on the soft damp moss to ponder its fragile beauty.

A passing insect droned against the silence then stopped
To be embraced like a long lost friend
He stayed only a while then left with a gift of golden dew.

The breeze passed, and she raised her head heavenwards
Back towards the suns warming kiss
As I stood and smiled, her beauty still etched upon my mind.