neglect
my orchid died.
i never mentioned it
because i thought it didn’t matter -
it was quite a while ago now.
it was sometime in the fall;
i don’t recall the date.
it didn’t seem important.
i really tried to keep it alive,
though i probably had no business
owning an orchid.
they’re too fragile.
the first time i forgot to water it
it sprouted a new leaf.
well, i thought, it thrives on neglect.
but the second time,
it was out in the sun,
and the leaf died,
and then the rest died.
well, i thought, there goes another one.
i really liked that one, too.
it’s too bad it died.
i never even got to see it bloom;
but it’s my own fault.
for a while the pot
sat out on the patio;
an empty bowl full of dirt -
a flower’s corpse.
someone came along and planted something else in the pot.
i didn’t know that it had been done
until i noticed the green shoots
that shouldn’t have been there.
what business do green onions have,
growing in the roots of my orchid?
i never gave them permission.
and they probably won’t die, either -
pernicious things.
it’s too bad that it died:
my orchid, i mean.
i really liked it.
i had great hopes that it would live
and bloom again.
but then i killed it;
i didn’t mean to -
i just forgot to water it.
i guess orchids can only be so independent.
but i probably had no business owning an orchid anyway.
i wish that orchid hadn’t died.
