******
Selected from the bench of the grower,
Among dry rooted plants, all like one another,
The orchid had little to recommend it, except the name
Which escapes me just the same.
Best take this one,
For at end of day they’ll all be gone.
No way of justifying the expense
Other than the challenge of suspense.
There’s no assurance of what will turn out
From this plant whose very life is in doubt.
Still take it and try your hand
If it lives is enough for any man.
“When will it bloom?” you ask the grower.
Maybe never; or sooner or later.
And what will be the nature of the bloom?
“Just like the others growing in this room.”
This orchid’s family tree
Is from a single rootstock, virus free
Growing and dividing time and time again
The variety multiplies slowly in the hands of men.
In a fork of the magnolia tree
A wad of sphagnum moss supports the specie.
Intended to provide a place for roots to grow
And benefit from water that Nature may bestow.
But the season is most harsh
With temperatures low and pending frost.
Still the plant remains in its place
Adapt or die is what it does face.
Yet another cold snap is pending
Perhaps another place intending
Remove the plant from its nest of moss
Bring it indoors before all is lost.
The experience has taken its toll
Once plump leaves are shriveled; old.
Is there life amongst the nodes?
Perhaps reborn, Heaven knows.
In the now warm and sheltered place within
Life awakens, growth of a flower stalk begin(s)
And another from the companion leaves
Begins its reach for light and breeze.
Bursting into bloom first one and then the other
Beauty untold and delightful aroma to uncover.
The blossom entices a visiting bee
To come inside and sample from the pollen tree.
Fly away to another orchid.
Deposit the load. The flowers wed.
Perhaps in a time to be
Seeds develop, too tiny to see.
So goes the way of orchids survival in their niche
Moved to reproduce in one last ditch
Stand, before the blossom drops.
The plant dies, but reproduction never stops.
****
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