One summer
I uprooted my succulent,
Outgrown from its container

I separated the babies
And planted the lot
In three little citronella candles
In terra cotta pots

To see how they'd look

In my silly laziness
They stayed in those citronella pots
For nine months

Those succulents looked dead
By December
Shriveled and starved
But I left them
In my negligence,
"I'll repot them soon"

But in May
The first one
Shot up its stake
And flowered…
Do you believe…

From its poison
From dead wax
Using dried leaves
One delicate shoot
And seven purple flowers

It was two more months
Before I caught up with mercy
And repotted that stubborn plant

I broke the terra cotta
And removed the candle wax
From glorious, misguided roots
Digging through nothing
Towards nothing
Needing to live