Sid Peery

The Stillness of a Plant

Potato in the mud.

Many stars pass me by.

Where does a hedgerow wander?

Watch that tree for me.

Tell me what it does.

Did it move?  No?

The ground is dry around it.

Oak leaves are dying around it.

Small ants crawl past me.

Small ants climb the tree.

A great sight up there, must be.

But they always come back and by.

Mounds in dry dirt.

Romancing the carrion with small feelers.

     First they awake.

Then they flirt.

                Then they mate and marry the Queen.

Last they are carried away

                                    left to whither under strange ground.

Too bad I can’t pretend to be a potato

                                                         forever; I’ve got to deposit my leaf cuttings

                            in the hive some time today.