Kore

Sometimes I can distract him with a game 
of dice, chances are he’ll win no matter 

what, he is the king of the dead after all – 
and he cheats well. But he loves a good game 

and I can slip away to see her, if only 
for a moment, from a distance. You see me too,

but you don’t know -- it’s hard to focus 
when the grasses are but long hairs; the sky 

and road are both the color of charcoal. 
I’m in the hothouses on Canal and Seventh, 

just off the main drag; you see me, don’t you? 
I’m the one breathing life into those platoons 

of orchids, pink and white, defying my mother, 
shining them through winter in ancient holy light.

I have a black thumb. There, I said it. But thanks to some ingenuity from a friend,

I've been able to cheat death, and keep alive the hibiscus plant that was given to me

 when my oldest was born thirteen years ago. The hibiscuses were yellow at one time

and then during a drought, the plant died. My friend came by, and moved the plant

 so that it stood next to the air-conditioning vent in the summer and the heating

release in the winter.

"Just leave it alone" he said. And I did.

The next year, the plant flowered a little late

but the petals were white and they've been white ever since -- flowering faithfully

and staying alive. It is winter here, in Georgia, and the plant is now as tall

as a professional basketball player with a sumo wrestler's girth. It's not barren

yet (i've turned on the heat.....) though the last of its flowers for this season

are already on the ground. I'm waiting for spring....