Saturday, August 1, 2020

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.

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