Succulent

 

One winter took with it

Three seasons of mirth,

And my garden – desiccated,

Looked more forlorn

Than my hidden heart

But such is Life,

We are always looking

In the wrong direction

 

For in a hidden corner

I found,

Evidence of life as well,

Growth, a bit of jubilation,

Sheathed in emerald

An abundance of chlorophillia

In the tininess

Of my succulent garden

 

The Burro’s tail

Had through winter

Descended like Rapunzel,

While the echeveria

And the aeonium

Grew in floral whorls

(Now that my garden

Was bereft of blooms)

 

The Haworthia

Grew many a tail

While the agave shouted almost

For a bigger lair of earth

There were many more

From the nameless ones

That grew in one winter of

Neglect and disregard

 

Even when the leaves have shed

The world keeps growing

Be it in the emptiness

Of the deciduous outside

Or the cornucopia

Of succulents inside

Perhaps, they don’t test themselves

But the gardeners of growth

 

Basil and jade grow hand in hand

As do aloe and evergreens

As if whispering, Have faith

The world is million years wiser

Than your garden of yesterday.

I pick up the rake in shame,

I feel the cold of grass beneath:

Autumn’s leaves have piled for too long

 

23^rd October 2025