Once, under sun's last gleaming flame,
I met a purple glow;
At first I could not give it name
(Whose name I surely know).

'Twas in a rich green hollow set,
Awash with sun-kissed leaves,
Where slender stem with leaf-top met
And clustered thick as thieves.

I glanced sidelong; the glow remained
A vibrant purple hue,
Complete with scent as yet unnamed
(Whose scent I surely knew).

Reluctant yet to fully look
And dash the mystery,
Deliberately, I at first mistook
It for a violet sea;

Pretending every leaf a boat
On purple waves high thrown,
Above an unknown sound afloat
(Whose sound I'd surely known).

The lazy rustle calling me,
I dared at last a gaze,
To find a scene of wild beauty
By sundown set ablaze.

A host of violets everywhere,
As if Demeter flung
Her godly cloak on meadow bare,
And from it life had sprung.

Their perfume rose like purple mist
Above their vibrant glow,
Violet mixed with amethyst,
And touch of plum below.

While tiny blue forget-me-nots
With gentian centers deep
Hid under violets, unforgot,
Their company to keep.

A wind went whispering around
This fairy glen so long,
It caused each leaf and petal bound
To earth to dance in song.

This amaranthine carpet laid
Upon the verdant floor,
The mind's subconscious quickly made
A place of mythic lore:

Warmth in color captured fast
In this idyllic pool;
Nature's richness unsurpassed
By man's best-wielded tool.

This sun-bathed purple Eden filled
My soul with deep delight,
And stayed I long, all worry stilled,
Until the fall of night.