Speeding Cyclamen

This tiny pink cyclamen flower was hiding in the overgrown front garden. Our fully sighted PA and I had to saw down part of a goat willow tree this week, as it has gotten too big. My hands and shoulders still haven’t recovered. Sam spotted the tiny pink blur on the bank and pointed it out. I went back yesterday to photograph it, but it took me a while to find. The single flower rises on a slender stem, its petals the softest pink deepening to burgundy at the inner edge. Unlike most flowers that open outwards these petals are swept back and upwards, as if caught by a breeze. She looks as if she’s flying along at speed, looking little like a swan’s head (to me anyway !) but of course she’s entirely still. The pale pink petals curve behind the flower’s centre like the tips of tiny wings in flight. Against the dark background, she feels both delicate and determined, a small flash of colour held aloft in the shadowed green, fighting to be noticed amongst the darkened undergrowth.