The Lupine is considered an invasive flower that doesn’t belong to Finnish nature. In this mini-series of poems, I use the lupine as a lens to think about immigration, migration and invasion. 

 

Wind:

Every autumn I beg you to take me to the place I am told is my home

But you are not strong enough to blow me past the vast ocean

You have sent me here again, to Vaasa

Helsinki and Savo

On roadsides and bus stands

 

I have drawn a map in my dreams 

I have drifted there

Like a slow-moving raft dancing on deep blue waves

I have retraced my grandparents’ steps

To a place I am told I should belong

Why do you always bring me back here?

 

Hummingbird:

Every spring I open my petals

And let you sip my nectar

 

You draw my sweetness with a needle 

Your kisses bruise but I need you

 

You know not how to give

But you sure can take

 

You flap your wings until they hum

You turn your head upside down

 

You speak in color

Your feathers, metallic in the sun

 

You do not sing, 

You dance, for you. 

 

Perennial:

Dear Lupine, 

No perennial born of the soil dies

You have survived the coldest of frosts

Gorgeously,

Proudly,

You shoot off the ground when it thaws

Unafraid to start over

 

Dear Lupine,

Look at you stand in the meadow

Your white, purple, pink floating on green,

You have beautiful colors, 

But your true beauty lies in your resilience

You bloom where you are planted 

And spread your energy far and wide