Succulent gazing. Photo credit: C. Finch
by Stephanie Heit
succulents
clubmoss twitters
showy medinilla
showy pink berries slurp
clubmoss snakefern
does not disappoint
hisssssssssssssssssssssssss
bonsai creak
narrowed leaf fig
29 years old
ratchets fibers
bursts the form
epiphyte log howls
intervention of plastic labels 1-13
pink yellow blue
homesick for rainforest
Michigan tropical simulacrum
white poinsettias
already tired from requisite carols
stamens spent larynx
potential of deionized water
NOT DRINKING WATER dare
oxygen production chlorophyll murmurs
moist, herbaceous, heliotropic reach
to December slant light
piped in ether
koi, goldfish enlarged 3000x
plot their evolution
bigger pond wishlist item
bubbles in unanimity
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Stephanie Heit is a queer disabled poet, dancer, teacher, and author of the poetry collections PSYCH MURDERS (Wayne State University Press 2022) and The Color She Gave Gravity (Operating System 2017). She codirects Turtle Disco, a somatic writing space on Anishinaabe land in Ypsilanti, and enjoys spending time in the cozy warmth and humid worlds of the Matthaei Conservatory especially in winter.
***
This is an original poem, brought to you by Poet Tree Town, an Ann Arbor-based poetry-in-public initiative and celebration of local Washtenaw poets. Find out more about Poet Tree Town on Instagram and Facebook, or say hello at [email protected].
