iris

"i have seen them in italy," she said. "in all colours. they grow there, wild."

"they will open soon now. and then be gone in two weeks," i explained, once again wishing they would stay longer.

"that's how they are."

it's one of the things that keeps irriating me: the way they take a whole month to develop those exquisite petals, how they open all of them at once, in a spectacle of sheer abundance - and how they then turn to plain green again for the rest of the year. all this effort, for such a short while.

i shook my head. "like fireworks - sparkling in colours, then gone."

"just like us, when it comes to it," she concluded, and smiled.