Please do not carve on the yucca, do not give
it your name, which you yourself might need.
Please do not please too readily. May your pleas
never come out of desperation, but merely
want. A smear of desire, a schmear—you had
thought to bring in the boiled dough but
it can only withstand so much, fast-spoiled.
You are sometimes a bagel yourself, ruined
before touch, not by it. Please don’t be bought.
Don’t be a bot, though probably you should
find ways of processing, of answering. It will
help to remember your ancient ancestor, the fern.