Long ago there was a beautiful ox-eye daisy named Maisy. Her petals were as white and as innocent as that of a dove. Its bud was as round and as yellow as the sun. Enjoying sunshine every day, Maisy Daisy dreamt that one day someone would pick her up and bring her home to be used as decoration. She heard stories of her brothers and sisters being tied together in bunches called ‘bouquets’ and then dipped in the water of beautiful crystal glass vases. She heard stories of daisies being woven to make floral crowns. But all the stories had one thing that really scared Maisy – being torn out from the lawn, her mother. Maisy Daisy did not want to wilt without her lawn. And so it happened that one day a young girl came to the lawn. When the girl picked up Maisy Daisy, Maisy Daisy cried out and wondered:

Is there something wrong with being a lawn

Flower – flower – flower – flower

Because being torn from my mother’s lawn took away my

Power – power – power – power

Now my job is not only to bloom but to never

Cower – cower – cower – cower

The girl brought Maisy Daisy close to her face and inhaled her smell. Then, she plucked out one petal and again, Maisy Daisy screamed. Soon, more girls came to the lawn. They too picked the daisies and started tearing up their petals. The girls tossed the petals and then crushed them with their sandaled feet. Oh, the horror, thought Maisy Daisy. To her it seemed like the little girls played some sort of a cruel game. She did not want to be a part of it. But what could she do to save herself and her sisters? The one thing that came to her mind was to speak. Still, the girl who tormented her would never listen to her. So, Maisy Daisy lifted her face to the sun, and she prayed for someone to save her and her sisters from the cruelty. And just as she did, the girl holding her said:

You are one beautiful but magical

Flower – flower – flower – flower

I heard granting wishes is part of your

Power – power – power – power

But in this world, it is flowers to humans who must

Cower – cower – cower – cower

Then the girl’s mother came around, and she went around collecting Maisy Daisy and her sisters from the girls. Sitting down on the lawn, the mother made a small slit in Maisy Daisy’s stem with girls watching her. A stab of pain pierced Maisy Daisy, but when the mother threaded Maisy’s sister through her slit, Maisy Daisy forgot about the pain. The mother repeated this until she made a chain of daisies. Maisy felt connected to her sisters, even more than when they grew on the face of their mother lawn. The mother handed the ox-eye daisy bracelet to the girl who picked up Maisy Daisy. The girl put the bracelet around her tiny wrist and lifted her hand towards the sun. So happy was Maisy Daisy that she was woven so closely with her sisters that wilting did not scare her anymore and she uttered in joy:

I thought as ox-eye daisy I was a special

Flower – flower – flower – flower

But a single flower has very little

Power – power – power – power

It is the chain of daisies that gives her strength to never

Cower – cower – cower – cower