Goldenrod

Goldenrod
monkton,vt

It is the source of the best golden honey.
The source also of the myth that it is the allergen responsible for
ragweed allergies (so I heard and hold on to.)
It is just the most visible culprit, ragweed looking kind of ragged
and dull.
Goldenrod & Ragweed bloom at the same time and often together
in the same old field.
When my Dad was much younger and I was knee high to him,
I rushed home one day with a giant bouquet of
Goldenrod.
It was his birthday and I wanted to give him something special.
His reaction was seriously dissaproving and also repulsion, covering
his mouth and nose lest he have worse allergy symptoms.
He was already hacking and sneezing in the humid soggy late summer
thick pollen laden air.
I quickly ran out the door and threw them somewhere,
not sure what I had done, learning again
that sometimes a good deed just comes out wrong,
and Dad really dislikes the pretty golden flowers I found beside the road.