Ice Plant

What warmth of beauty does the "Ice Plant" form,
with pink blooms bunched in "Brilliant" clustered dorms,
its "Showy Stonecrop" flat-head flower norm
withstanding dry spells and cold frosty storms.
Each "Stardust" shows five petals in a star,
as ten long thin pink pistils rise like spars,
while tiny black dots tip them so bizarre,
as five short pistils squat like white cigars.
The leaves stay fresh by holding moisture tight,
their pores drink CO2 in cooler nights,
then close to keep it from day's drying light
and save their many "Live-For-Ever" sites.
O fragrant "Autumn Joys" and "Ruby Glows,"
you carpet rocks and swamps with flower snows.

                              -- by Pete Voelz          1998