Flowers in July

© “Sarah’s Sight” by H. Walker

Most of the foliage across the town pushed through the ground as early as mid-May but the frost did something to the earth, or so everyone wanted to believe (and said as much in whispers as well as general conversation)

Sarah’s early birth wasn’t the sign; it was the lateness of the ground opening up in July that pushed the thoughts to the supernatural

See, Sarah was a magic child… born in July, they said the power of her life came from the flowers that bloomed when she entered into this world

The dirt was bare the night before and when the first cries were heard at 2:52am on the 10th of July, sighs of relief echoed off the walls of the hospital waiting room

Reminiscences of mid-May musings: the farmer’s market re-opening; the local high school band beginning their practices outside the 100-year old school at the center of town; and a host of babies born at the hospital between May 1st and 22nd

21 children; only 8 survived… and by mid-May, no foliage had pushed through the rich dirt and all the trees were still bone-bare from winter

April showers did not bring May flowers that year

Vigilant prayers by all the church mothers and elders combined across the community of 5,000 people couldn’t delay the passing of 13 souls to the ancestors and

Most of the foliage that should’ve pushed through that mid-May didn’t… but two months later

Sarah was born at 2:52am on July 10th and her first cry made the ground swell, then tremble and

Everyone remembered where they were when they felt the shift underfoot; mothers stood on their porches

Surveying yards up, down, and over in the darkness of the AM hours… pulling sprinklers out

Using the spray attachment on their water hoses… moving as if in a trance

A dance they already knew, and maneuvering through the motions from 2:52am on July 10th, the earth

Was saturated across the yards and lawns and gardens in the town of, now, 5,001 and by noon

When the sun was at it’s highest

When the town was most in the midst of its busy mid-day rush

When many people made random stops to do random things: check their glove compartments for extra quarters for the meter; read postings on the community board outside the library’s main entrance; mother’s running back inside their homes to grab left items; father’s dropping keys on the ground and bending over to retrieve them…

In their own worlds in those moments, they looked to their left and/or their right

And saw bursts of colors that weren’t there barely 10 hours prior; leaves on every tree as far as anyone could see swayed in the slight breeze

Bushes in their vibrant greens towered just over beds of flowers: roses, daisies, daffodils, and others…

Tulips reached for the sky just over porch railings in yards watered under a crescent moon chasing the darkness away for morning to arrive undeterred

Sarah, see, was the magic, and everyone saw in that mid-day rush what the trembling was about…

And every flower you can think of pushed through and showed their leaves and blooms in their full glory…

There’s a story that everyone tells about that July that gets more magical each re-telling but for those of us who witnessed it, what we know is that something was birthed inside of all of us that day

Something beautiful, and lush… and to this day and beyond, we all marvel at the sight each July when petals from all types of flowers make a showing from one corner of the small town to all the others…

See, Sarah was magic… and saw the flowers as everyone else did…

She also saw the 13 children born the same year she was where no one else could…

H. Walker 5-29-2020