Open Studio Poem #1

The unpruned fuchsia in its faded pot is a mess of sticks, spotty leaves, a few stunted buds. It is not a malleable plant; it’s fussy about water and light. Not like the daffodils. Every spring— flood or freeze or April snow— they push up through thickets of grasses and edge the lawn with yellow and white. I expect there is some liberty in taking what is given, staying deep, blooming from the settled bulb.