Poetry: Flower Children

First published by Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel

Flower Children

Appalachia blossoms

like a houseplant deprived of water,

waiting unattended in the windowsill,

trying to survive the drought.

In that last bid to preserve

her culture, her genetics,

she births children like blooming

flowers whose petals soon wither

up to nothing,

thirsty babies fed little but poison,

given the occasional “free lunch”

like a handout, domestic and isolated

in a cheap plastic pot

and the wealthy fellow

who put her there thinks she should

be grateful for the scraps she receives

and wonders why,

if things are so bad,

should the silly thing

keep making children,

keep growing as life is designed to do

When a plant is dying it does what it must

to ensure a new generation, in vain,

but the inattentive gardener

just admires the blooms

without concern for their upkeep.