Day 404: The Way Things Grow

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i spent four hours outside yesterday-

watering
pruning
sowing
pulling
feeding
staring
planning
thinking

–

and i had this flash of fear
and inevitability
that crossed my mind
when i admired a nasturtium
that is growing quite nicely;

round,
a mini globed hedge
with sand dollar leaves
and star white centers.

it’s so perfect, now.

but it’s spring,
and that’s the way we all start out.

summer comes
and things get dry
and we brown
and gangle
and stretch ourselves too thin
and the bloom wants
for thirst of the branch.

i was thinking these things,
in a pre-season defeat
for this small and bright
and hydrated being,
so i started strategizing
the come back.

and all of this i said to the plant:

“i grew you from the seed.
and when you get too gaunt
and tired from the heat
of many days lived
under the sun,
and too weak
from the storms that bent you low,
i will cut you back,
but not down.

and you will grow again
with deeper roots
and a better memory
of the sun and rain.”

 

when the shadows
grew long on the ground,
i went inside,
and felt less afraid now,
of all this pain,
for i suspect it is inflicted
with precision.

∴

 

 

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