Asters in Ascendancy

Do flowers make you laugh with delight? 
If you came to Albuquerque and rode through the bosque with me,
you would break out in a bellow, surely,
Or maybe a belly chortle, a chuckle would be very mellow.
Fading sunflowers still bring a broad smile.
But now, the asters are in ascendancy.

Oh joy!
…to be in nature and sit quietly
beneath thirteen (now twelve) trees,
as a stillness settles like a muted symphony over the riparian meadow.
The purple asters float like fairies, lighter than a flight of feathers.
Two flickers converse in a chatty way.
A distant dog barks the end of day.