Mary Jo Salter
Narcissus
Cut flowers are lovely but
it's February and they're not
realistic.
I've brought you a narcissus kit
you have to build yourself.
You put the dirt
in the little pot,
you stick their bottoms in,
feet sticking up.
Give them a little water.
And then you watch them thinking
only of themselves,
not doing anything.
For days and days
there seems to be some mistake.
Until one morning at breakfast
one of them breaks,
and then everybody wants to do it,
the breaking out.
Day after day,
a month of breaking out and free.
Taller and taller,
each one a different height,
until they can't bear
being so far
from the sight of themselves,
and they lean into the polished
surface of the kitchen table.
Look into it.
There they are,
looking at themselves,
and at you, looking at them,
and I am in our doorway,
holding your coffee,
looking at you looking at them.
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