What grows from a rhizome
rises Dutch Blue,
Bearded Purple, Japanese.
Iris, amazing peasant orchid—
such homely needs:
winter rain, half-day sun,
ordinary soil.
Distant cousin to the onion,
root that cures any bland soup,
greets each child at the door
saying come in,
this is love, you are home.

From Traveler in Paradise: New and Selected Poems (Pearl Editions, 2003).
Used here with the author’s permission.