Although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years…Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms….The plant dies after flowering, but produces adventitious shoots from the base, which continue its growth. — Wikipedia  

Agave americana,
You
tower
over
our
New
Mexico
Court-
Yard,
Unnoticed for weeks, years, decades.  

Now we wait for your flowering
And your death.  

We did not terminate
Your push toward destiny
To cut your stem
To tickle our tongues
With sweet aguamiel
Or—selfish—seek
Brief intoxication
With your pulque.  

Rather we’ve borrowed
From your patience,
Silent with sprouts and spines,
To wait for blossoms.  

Might I, at 73,
Begin some green project
With adventitious shoots
That,
Decades hence
Will flower?