The Plant
--
It hit hard and unexpectedly.
The feeling of loss,
When I realized my plant was gone.
Such a minor thing,
In the much bigger picture
Of the pandemic.
One potted plant
Should not have caused
Me to sob.
My team gave me
The plant
After my father died.
A peace lily, it thrived for years
Despite my black thumb,
Endlessly forgiving.
It was a fighter.
I hadn’t realized how much
My mind had imbued into it.
When the pandemic hit
We were lucky enough to be able
To work mostly from home.
I couldn’t take the plant
Home with me;
It was poisonous to cats.
Other people helped keep
It watered on the weeks
I worked from home.
But as fewer people had to
Be in the office
I guess it got overlooked.
One day
It was missing.
Just … gone.
I looked around for it to no avail.
My best guess was that it had
finally died, and was thrown away.
And I was sad.
Yet as the day wore on,
My sadness deepened.
By the time evening came,
I was asking myself “Why?”
Why was I so upset about a plant?
Then I realized the connection.
That the plant
Had helped me mourn.
That the plant
Was an everyday reminder
That life goes on.
Until, that day, it didn’t.
I had lost a connection to my father,
A bit of comfort.
And that’s okay.
Once I realized why I was so sad,
It was a new reminder.
That life goes on.
And we go on with it,
Doing our best.
