Pink evening primrose, Oenothera speciosa, via Texas Highways.
Found in a lot in Houston.
Habitat: Roadsides, […], prairie, disturbed ground, at generally low elevations.
Habit/Form: creeping, erect, spreading
East Texas by Kenneth Porter (Poetry (September 1943)) describes a leg of my trip, in reverse.
EVENING PRIMROSE
Poetically speaking, growing up is mediocrity.
– NED ROREMNeither rosy nor prim,
not cousin to the cowslip
nor the extravagant fuchsia,
I doubt anyone has ever
picked one for show,
though the woods must be fringed
with their lemony effusions.Sun blathers its baronial
endorsement, but they refuse
to join the ranks. Summer
brings them in armfuls,
yet, when the day is large,
you won’t see them fluttering
the length of the road.They’ll wait until the world’s
Rita Dove (via UVA)
tucked in and the sky’s
one ceaseless shimmer – then
lift their saturated eyelids
and blaze, blaze
all night long
for no one.
