The Gift Orchid
I see the remains of the potted orchid,
A symbol of friendship and time
Sitting brown and dead on the pavement
Shriveled completely from neglect
From busy-ness and lack of respect
The little things got in the way of the life things
And now all that remains is a dry and crumbling waste
That not even water will revive
It simply shows how we must invest the time, the effort
To keep what is living alive
While letting the sordid details to themselves
Don’t set what’s important up on the shelves
Until they’re a withering, nebulous ghost
Of the past. What I want to last, I must water
What I want to live, I give life
Otherwise none of all this really matters
K, Duane Carter 8/11/13
