Thanksgiving Holdovers
We dropped them in an old bourbon
glass, the three extra rosemary sprigs
from November’s turkey dinner.
The glass is a Kentucky Derby souvenir
so we filled them up with water
just enough
just enough
to cover the word MINT.
Then we added a drop of Braggs apple
cider vinegar ( I am convinced it will cure
anything but death, maybe.) & forgot them
in the kitchen window.
Sometime in January I realized that
they had all sprouted a forest
of algae covered roots
that looked like a calculus worksheet
that had been used for three months worth of
homework. I gently –maybe not gently– untangled
the roots & placed each into its own new
clear glass home.
It was not a very surgical procedure
as each was attempting to leave trailing tendrils.
All three resembled octopi attempting to escape
from an aquarium –onto our kitchen counter.–
Eventually (even as we have surrendered
to this cape cod home, so new to us) they
settled & grew and rooted around in the
sunlight through the end of winter.
In May I put them in old faded Folgers dark
roast plastic tubs half filled with red lava rocks
and dirt. Today,
today we had an appointment to see the doctor.
Today we had lunch near the hospital with a friend.
Today, pale violet, one of the rosemary bushlings bloomed.
Today The doctor told us we are one hundred percent cancer free.
22 thoughts on "Thanksgiving Holdovers"
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Oh! That last line!!! ππ Yes!!
The whole poem captivates me, but the last line made me gasp with joy!
Thanks π yeah, joy!!
Such a journey through mint, algae and coffee cans to reveal a great surprise ending!
Funny, I was already working the rosemary bloom and then a real life 3D turn in the poem of life.
Congratulations my love!!! Whew!
H.A. nails it β the joyful end. So many rich details, the calculus and octopi of roots, All lifting off the page with that last line.
π happy Thanksgiving π
Wow – what a poem – from the calculs worksheet on to the ending that’s worth its weight in gold.
π thank you π
Yay! What a journey, and love that ending.
β€οΈ
Music to my ears, Coleman. Not just cancer free but enjoying a nice big bowl of pho!
By the way, my sprig of rosemary is growing nicely.
Kevin you brought the rosemary and you joined for lunch…..bookends hugs friend. Thank you
I was laughing my way through this…
I am convinced it will cure
anything but death, maybe/a calculus worksheet
that had been used for three months worth of
homework.
and when I read “one hundred percent cancer free”
I, a woman, who lives for these words each 6 months, feel full joy!
Pam i was working this poem as funny and then it turned stupenderfic….thanks π
What a wonderful poem! (And I’m envious at your ability to get rosemary to grow. It’s one of the few plants to escape my usually green thumb. LoL)
Great progression, images, and ending.
Just a thought on the vinegar … do the parentheses minimize this observation? I think they do. It’s a great feature in the poem. And think about how you want to structure that, e.g. “it might cure anything but death,” or let the thing BE, as Steve Cope says. “It will cure anything but death” or even “It cures anything but death.” What happens with that idea leaves the reader/listener pondering what role nature has had in your healing, nature being the successful sprouts as well as the vinegar. It gives you the “double whammy” of modern medicine and nature in tandem in the process of healing.
Does that make sense, or am I totally out to lunch?
Thank you for the feedback. I will look to the structure, it was a late add and didn’t know how to fit it in. We have always added a drop of braggs to water-cuttings because I was told that it helps stimulate them like a hormone. We do the same with the Sequoia cuttings. Thanks for reading and thank you very much for the feedback.
This is a poetic whammy (in a great way) followed by a life whammy (in an even greater way)! Congratulations on poem and life!
Sylvia …life imitates art….”Great turn”…..lol……we happy
The attention to detail is exquisite, but to me the the ending is what makes the poem, which, as it turns its not the poem I thought I was reading. Well done!
Thank you Lee, yeah me too π
I agree about the whammies. I loved it for the rosemary and then suddenly for so much more
Yes π thank you Arwen, lexpomo jams !