May Flowers

A few of the trees in our front yard are kind of scraggly-looking.

Sometimes I wonder why the former owners planted them.

Then spring comes along, and the pretty flowers answer my question.

April is when a lot of plants wake up around here,

and May is when many of them bloom,

like these flowers I saw

in the grass near our library today . . .

. . . and these ones blooming on a canvas at a local cafe.

I have great respect for painters who can reproduce what they see

in nearly photographic detail,

but I also love when an artist brushes simple strokes of color onto a canvas

and creates a minimalist scene that is still recognizable

and beautiful.

Maybe I like that style because it seems likes something

I might actually be able to do someday.