Hurrying through the summer sun on an empty stomach
Having returned to the chilly vigor no
The dizzying thrill of health I’m looking for begonias to clip
Propagate in water by my bedroom window
The perversion of dangling roots tangled naked under glass
Pale appendages, gummy with adolescence
An article I’m reading online refers to the begonia’s blooms as blousy
And top heavy, then goes on to describe the murky crime
Of clipping and reproducing patented species
Who knew there was a whole series of untouchable lilies with names like
Tiny sensation tiny diary tiny pearl and tiny double you
All spring I’d stayed swollen with your affection bloated
With need now bed bound now force-fed
The shadow of something kept alive against its will
Adam Spiegelman is a writer based in NYC. His work has appeared in or is forthcoming from The Evergreen Review, Rejection Letters, and Adroit Journal, among others. He recommends Benjamin Labatut’s The Maniac.
