Milkweed

They grow tall
while monarch caterpillars
feast on their leaves
which is the only thing
they’ll eat,
loving the sticky,
latex sap in the stalk,
whose milk is perfect
for keeping them safe
and laying their eggs.
Then in autumn,
the textural,
paisley-shaped pods
get crusty and brittle
and aphids binge
on the scratchy
husk remains
that split open
and scatter seeds
with their frothy,
feathered down
acting as both
flags and parachutes
as birds nosh
on the seeds
and the wind frolics
with the fluff,
carrying it off
to deposit elsewhere,
to be planted
and germinated anew.
So round and round it goes
each abundance
a continuance
from the last,
uniquely beautiful
and usefully contributing
in every season–
the cycle of life
ongoing and ever-present.

by Polly Castor