Schefflera

Y’all, I think I might be losing it a little. I stopped by Good Earth today, and picked up a plant, and then I came home, and I planted it up, and…this is the wacky part, wait for it…

…I wrote it a poem.

*****

Schefflera

My bathtub jungle is pleased to welcome
a schefflera, unlabelled — I thought at first
it was a croton, codiaeum Mamey, but then realized
that was only the label on the brown paper
wrapping, grabbed to protect it from Chicago’s
winter cold. So she has no name, this schefflera
but oh, look! at her exuberant creamy leaves
(research suggests she may be Trinette)
and enjoy her petite height, just right for
tucking under another plant I have failed
to name. Oh, I will never make master
gardener at this rate, but no matter; I will sink
into bubble baths every night, surrounded
by an ever-growing jungle. When
I finally emerge, wrinkled and content,
no one will know how many miles

I have travelled in their company.

*****

1/13/22

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