Petals Unfold Poem by HARVENDRA SINGH

Petals unfold—tender, fragrant and fragile—
Sending their fragrance on the wandering breeze,
Attracting beetles of their own choice,
To carry pollen to distant lands.

They do not bloom for you,
But for their quiet, sacred purpose.
Not for your grasping fingers,
Not for your ill intent—
To pluck, to smell, to toss aside,
Discarded into the dust.

Don't touch them;
They are the whisper of the earth—
Handle with care, or leave them be,
For beauty wilts when forced to please.