Extended Bloom

From dusk until dawn
the deep-throated
Four o’clock blossoms
open like painted lips.
Nocturnal pollinators
visit–the sphinx moth
and the hawkmoth–
and sup until sunrise.

Then the four o’clock
sleepyheads
purse their lips
and retract,
with a twist,
all that color–
like lipstick
that retreats
into itself,
lying dormant
in its sheath.