The Horror

The other morning I went down to the garage to dump the trash

To my surprise, someone had tossed out several live plants

Discarded with all the coffee grinds, fruit rinds and tissues and shit

I brought the small ones inside

But couldn’t do much with the six foot palmetto

It was left to dry out alone in the dark next to a leased BMW

It bothered me for several days when I decided to take it outside

First on the retaining wall out front, then into the planter box outside my window

Where the sprinklers and sun would get to it

I watched it struggle back to life

Part of me felt I could have done better

But there was no more room inside so I just watched

Then one day I heard a rustle outside but dismissed it

Walking the dogs later I noticed the palmetto was gone

Perhaps broken by the gardeners who don’t bother with such trifles

Perhaps someone stole it

Either way it was out of sight and I could move on

Wasn’t long before I started wondering

And I peered down into the planter from my living room and saw the palmetto

Lying on its side, soil spilt out of its flimsy plastic pot

Leaves shriveled and yellow

I debated on picking it back up and giving it another shot

But someone really wanted it dead

And I couldn’t take up another fight