His friend suggested he go to a group
To get help for a problem he had. Partly
Because she was such a good friend
He did that, and was amazed to conclude:

People have decency the way flowers have clarity:

Elderly women upright delphinium scepters,

Young men homely and cheerful,
Announcing themselves morning glories.

Homemakers old-fashioned and capable zinnias,

Their husbands sturdy patches of mint
(Pinch off one leaf, the bed remains intact).

As many decent people as clear flowers:
Flowers seldom are muzzy or irrevocably bruised.

You have only to join a group and attend the first session
To meet Poppies.

Jonathan Bracker is the editor of Bright Cages: The Selected Poems Of Christopher Morley (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1965), co-author with Mark Wallach of Christopher Morley (Twayne Press: 1976), and editor of A Little Patch Of Shepherd’s-Thyme: Prose Passages Of Thomas Hardy Arranged As Verse (Moving Finger Press: 2013).