gloxinia


--and then we find out
we are the gods


i was pulling the pumpkin vine
from around the hibiscus, it's grown
quite rapidly in the rainy months.
some people consider it a weed
but i like it.just not where it is now.
trying to get it to grow on the side
of the house that butts up to neighbor's
front door. some pretty
green veiling , climbing
up the plastic trellis. even tho
the place has been empty , victim
to the mortgage crisis, for almost a year
i still want privacy, such as it is,
here in the trailer park.

so i pull the vines from the ground
and damn if i don't see that plant he gave me
when we were first dating, the one he had hidden
behind his back, the one he picked up from
home depot on the way to my house --
that first time he ran a bit late,how it frightened me
this uncharacteristic tardiness because he could be
dead for all i knew, for all i knew he could have
simply changed his mind, but more like he could be dead
and how would i ever know cuz if he was running late
he would have called, he wouldn't worry me but if he'd been
in accident i wouldn't be on his contact list, we were too new
for emergencies but before i could get very scared
there he was, knocking with one hand, a silly smirk
on his face his other arm behind his back so we
couldn't properly hug but i hello kissed him right before
he brought it out, the broad leafed plant with
three red and white bell shaped flowers, the plant
that bloomed for a few months in my bathroom
reminding me of hearts and song and how it felt
to have him holdling me ,i'd look inside
the vermillion cups , into pristine white insides
like a valentine gift wrapped the moon
and wonder how long the thing would live
with the soil and water and sunlight.

later , during the many breakups
and reconciliations the glox put out
some flowers now and then. when they'd
begin to come out, i anticipated a reunion.
sometimes there was a call, a meeting
an understanding reached. more often
there was not. but i kept watering it
and pinched the leaves and pulled the shriveled
flowers from the stems so more could grow.
it was a beautiful flower, but eventually
i forgot to water it and it grew sickly looking

so i put it out into the front yard
under the oak, in the shade of the hibiscus
last november. said let it grow or die.
and here it is august again, after the winter
and drought and spring storms
pumpkin vine shadow, and grass encroachment
weedwhacker close calls alive
broadleaved and wanting to flower
like some kind of hope inside
an openmouthed bell jar