Of Oranges and Orchids

One day 

when my son was much younger, 

he was eating a sliced orange

and out of nowhere he said,

“Seeing an orange like this 

convinces me there is a God.”

I was rather shocked, 

in a pleasant way, 

by his observation. 

I told him I agreed, 

but we didn’t go on 

to have a deep 

philosophical or religious 

discussion. 

There was no need to. 

He had captured 

one of life’s little miracles 

and that was that.

I thought about that comment

this morning as I stared into 

the heart of my purple orchid, 

which finally bloomed a day ago. 

I love the very center of the flower. 

I marvel at its mysterious structure. 

To me, it looks as though the orchid 

has two curved “arms” 

reaching right out of the blossom, 

offering up the flower’s 

exotic beauty and architecture.

So here  I have written 88 words 

trying to capture the flower’s miracle 

whereas my son 

did the same thing with the orange 

in eleven.