growing apart

I’ve given you water, I’ve given you food
It’s the best brand of wormcast, organic too
There’s light pouring in from the stained-glass porch
It’s natural, your fave, so your petals won’t scorch
In the midsummer sun, and it’s not too brisk?
Too nippy, too torrid, too clammy, too crisp?
That pot that you’re in is a gift from my aunt
She haggled for it at a market in France
I even drilled drainage holes in to boot
So water (it’s filtered) goes straight to your roots
If I’m honest I’m worried, I’ve noticed a leaf
That curls at the edge, and it’s brown underneath
And the others are starting to go the same way
Sort of floppy, forlorn – hun, you’re not ok
We’ve both been letting the subject slide
But d’you think you might want to live outside?
The soil is chalk based, the perfect bed
At least that’s what the man at Wyevale said
And we could try pruning to make you strong
And I’ll build you a greenhouse if that’s all wrong
I hate to compare but it’s nearly June
And my neighbour’s ranunculus’s in bloom
And I’ve sung to you, massaged your stems, y’know –
So why the fuck won’t you fucking grow?

Pottery by Zara Robinson