Since I dwell upon the West's depravity on many occasions, it is time for something cheerful! And given the approach of finals, I think everyone could use a flower to decorate their mental lapel. As those on campus have happily observed, the divergent species of bloom-bearing plants have begun to open their flora, one after another, like an orchestra building from a long silence to an exuberant gush of harmony. Among them are the many azalea bushes planted near the sidewalks. Now, I can't be completely cheerful: despite how common they are, I didn't have a clue as to their name until I asked several acquaintances; probably more than half were also in ignorance, and the others were quite unsure of themselves. Sadly, I am far from the only person who grew up in such ignorance of the beauty around him, of the names of commonly seen flowers! We need remedial education on nature! But that is just the hope for this age which grasps the simplest joys only with difficulty.

The Great Ice Storm of 2008 even did in some of the scrubbery, and some of the azalea bushes had to go. As I was walking by three days ago, I noticed a most curious phenomenon: a lone azalea had popped out of the stems of the bush, effectually beginning a copse (another nature term I recently learned; I can't find an image of an azalea copse, so use your imagination). How inspiringly resilient! Hence, I wrote

Copseflower

Springing out of a

Necropolis of bulbous branches, its

Defiant resurrection soothed those wits

That usually were too stern for the

Renewal of a hope upon the earth,

And struck them as a perfect beauty's birth.

Such a thing cheers the pessimism in me. I wish the same for you.