I liked this flower so much. It is some kind of a poppy, I’m not sure what kind but I used to like it. Maybe I shouldn’t use the past tense, I still like it! I love its colour. It reminds me of the corals. When the wind blows it dances with the wind displaying its vibrant colour. A proud flower as it can be… then I learnt something about this flower, something close to being sinister.
One spring/summer day when I went to the kindergarten where my daughter attends this particular flower is at its abundance like decors along the pathway. I so admired its beauty. When I went inside the school a picture of this dainty flower greeted me on their bulletin board. Lovely! Then I used my google translate to check what information they provided about this flower. I want to know more about my favourite flower in Japan.
The information shocked me. It turned out it was an advisory, a warning to parents not to let their children touch or get in contact with this particular flower. Attractive it may seem but this flower can cause itchiness that leads to rashes! Similar to a poison ivy, I guess. I usually picked this up, take a close-up picture, admire its beauty, and I even handed it to my daughter.
The price of beauty probably. Maybe the flower just wanted to be left alone and be admired from a distance. The rose has thorns yet people continue to handle it. I haven’t experienced any rashes yet nor my daughter when we picked this flower. I pray we won’t.
This is still my favourite seasonal flower. The one I always look forward to. It is like a promise. The Little Prince has his rose on his planet, I have this fleeting beauty from spring to summer on this planet, the blue sphere called Earth.
