Flower Power

I remember back in primary school, in between our little chats on what our mothers packed for lunch, we also talked about the meanings of our names. Pretty deep for little ladies waiting to lose our baby teeth.

My friends all knew the meanings of their names and I was a little shy to admit I did not know mine. I knew though that Azalea was a name for a flower I had not seen and I knew too I had to give an answer to my new classmates before they could further confirm that I was that weird kid no one wanted to be friends with. When everyone had cheerfully mentioned the meanings of their beautiful names, I then just blurted out "Oh I am a flower."

And how much have I loved flowers ever since. I never knew which flower was which (apart from roses of course, thanks to Beauty and the Beast, and Valentine's Day. And hibiscus, for being our national flower). But I just loved seeing multi-coloured flowers all jumbled up in pretty bunches.

And then in high school, we studied Puteri Gunung Ledang for a play where we learnt of these flower fairies with such beautiful names - Dahlia, Melati, Kemboja, Matahari, Tanjong. I knew then my future daughter will one day be named after one of them.

And then there are the poems I write in between silence, which more often than not describe the sun and the moon; flowers and the skies. There are the flower prints on the dresses and baju kurungs I wear. The sunflower I place behind my ear.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. But yesterday, I grew my own garden for the first time. Placed flowers on the kitchen counter. I still can't tell an Azalea when I see one, but I believe I hit a fairly big milestone yesterday in my flower-loving years.

Oh, the joy in my fluttering heart. It waits to whisper to my someday daughter, that she is a flower, too.