Flowerpot
Feeling rather unwell
For longer than was usual
I took myself
To a doctor
Who, confounded by my malady
Sent me
To another doctor
Who, in turn, also confused
Drove me onwards
To yet one more doctor
Each doctor had more qualifications
Than the last
More frames of praise
On the walls of their
Snobbish offices
The last doctor
Inquisitive hunch in hand
Scanned me
My whole body
In a metallic whirring worm
Which swallowed me whole in its narrow maw
And
Thumped and thrummed around me for hours
This last doctor was right
The scan revealed what he had suspected:
Inside me
There was a flowerpot
Ceramic and coloured bronze
With
Four holes in the bottom
For ventilation
And my name engraved
On its side
And the reason I felt so poorly
Is that the flowerpot inside me
Was empty
No flower
No bulb
No roots
Not even soil
And that was why
I felt so unwell
All the time
So he prescribed for me
The finest soil that you could buy
Over the counter
Enriched with nutrients and minerals
Some of which were not even native
To this land
Or any other
And handed me a small tuber
Brown with a touch of orange
“Water it, twice a day” he called after as I left him
So
I did as I was told
Swallowed the bulb
The soil
And the water
Stood in my garden
And opened myself to the sun
And to the rain
Day after day
I kept frost from my door
And chased off hungry wildlife
With waving arms
And shouted calls
Of
“Don’t come back”
They did come back
Curious things
But every time they did
I chased them away
Again
“Don’t come back
Don’t come back”
And I drank my water
I always remembered
To drink my water
My body photosynthesized
And
I began to feel better
A little bit better
Every day
My last scan revealed
To my horticultural physician
And myself
That
My flowerpot was coming along just nicely
Making a full recovery
And would soon be in full flower
Thanks to the approach of spring
I still have to water it every day
And give it as much sunlight
As I can
But things are different now
My life has changed
And somewhere inside
I can feel it
I can feel it
In there
In the flowerpot
Getting ready
To bloom
© Liam Power 2021