The mere mention of golden rod can set eyes watering,

noses sneezing.

Their names say it all:

tick weed, rag weed, cattails, foxglove, milkweed

Meteorologists show us maps marked with "allergy indexes."

Pharmacutical companies tend to buy these 'weather spots'

to sell their allergy products,

filled with endless shots of miserable people

endlessly blowing their miserable noses.

Many of us can relate to their misery.

We've been there.

It's no wonder some can't enjoy the show Mother Nature performs

each Autumn.

Fall wildflowers.. these common weeds,

with disparaging names

and few admirers

cling to their beauty

as they cling to the side of the road

unprotected and unwelcome

they remind me

as I scramble down the ditch-bank

to get the camera-angle that I need..

that like all things in creation,

beauty serves its own purpose

antibodies notwithstanding.