[poem] Directions for care

[kaberett]

It's all too easy to dismiss, diminish
your sharp-edged individual brilliance
as untidiness, as more work than
you're worth. Try this:

Needs direct sun with good support,
for preference, south-facing walls;
and well-drained soil and fleece in frosts
and water when the weather's hot.
Slow to flower, rarely fruits;
give the thing at least five years.
Mind the thorns, the strangling vines;
mind the poison the sap bears.

Grant me leave instead to make this promise:
yes, you're brash and loud and take up space;
perhaps you're snide, opinionated, lacking grace;
but darling, what you don't quite seem to grasp
is that your weaponry can be defence
and ornament at once; can, in point of fact,
be precisely why it is that you're beloved.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I like lots.

[thatyourefuse]

Oh.

[davidgillon]

Oh, I love the conceit here.

And I find personal resonance in 'Needs direct sun with good support,' ;) (In fact I'd only just mentioned falling asleep in the sun in a totally unconnected reply)

[azurelunatic]

*sprinkles gently, careful of thorns*

[ghoti]

<3

[redsixwing]

Yes.

(Also, deleted here an aside about Euphorbias, because plant nerdery, but: yes.)

[fyreharper]

This is beautiful

[spaceoperadiva]

Fierce and beautiful. <3 <3 <3

[vass]

(Have had this open in a tab for a while.)

I really love this.