The Hibiscus (Giorgio)

I go to the grocery store to buy essentials

and meet up with a hibiscus instead.

She stands in produce in a forest of trees

braided trunks

bright flowers

buds swelled to burst.

And one with the brightest pink flower

beckons to me near the bananas.

I forget about ground beef, toilet paper,

Clorox wipes, even kitty litter for the cat.

I step up to the hibiscus, not caring about

six feet social distancing

hold a limb and say, “You’re coming home.”

She is essential.

As the numbers on the news climb

so do the number of buds.

The temperature roves as wildly as the virus

and I carry the tree in at night to escape frost.

I can protect her. I know I can protect her

as much as I wish I could protect my daughter

my husband

my adult kids, all essential workers.

My granddaughter, who I can no longer see.

The hibiscus and I stay home.

Neither of us wear masks.

I breathe her in.

As the weather warms, her buds bloom

one, two, three, four, five.

Four Supreme Court judges decide to throw

Wisconsin’s door wide open, even as the

governor stands spread-eagled and wide-armed

in the jamb.

The hibiscus and I stay home

(as the governor suggested)

and I praise her for her beauty and intelligence.

While some run to bars, I drink in her blooms

and we sit together under the sun.

Under the stars.

During the day now, I sit on the deck,

press her leaves together in my palms,

and we pray for what is essential as

my family heads out to work among those

who refuse to wear masks

stand too close

laugh too loud

declare their civic right

to hurt others.

I look at the bright pink flowers, the buds swollen

with the promise of more color to come.

And she reminds me that I am safe

that the world is a beautiful place

that I am doing my absolute best to protect

those I love and those I don’t know

And that compassion and kindness

are essential.

Kathie Giorgio is the author of five novels, two story collections, a collection of essays, and two poetry chapbooks. A full-length poetry collection, No Matter Which Way You Look, There Is More To See, will be released on 9/4/20. She is the director/founder of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop, a creative writing studio.