'These dandelions – no show girls but they know how to pop up where they’re not wanted' Photo: by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

Rebellion

by Jennie Osborne 17th February 2023

These dandelions – no show girls
but they know how to pop up
where they’re not wanted
go on, do your worst
on tarmac and paving stone
Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge
padlocked into earth with combination roots
go on, arrest me
not ashamed to flaunt
the green rosette around their petals
rewilding the conurbation
raising the question of offence
with ranks of blue lawnmowers
doing their job, keeping order.