The Natchez White Crepe Myrtle

From Japan they come, in shades of white, pink, red, and rose,

Blooming when the summer sun

Bursts their little round buds,

Exploding, filling the Louisiana countryside

With complex arrays of color.

The chief white Crepe Myrtle is the Natchez white,

Known for its whiteness, its height,

Its promiscuous spilling of white blossoms

Upon summer grass. 

Stop, see the blossom of the Natchez White,

Be drawn into flower within flower,

Tender white bloom begetting tender white bloom--

Until you will drown in its whiteness,

--July 5, 2013