Growing Cyclamens

Cyclamen: noun, from the Greek kuklos
meaning circle for its circular root.
Cyclamen: a pink, red or white flowering plant
that can survive in tough conditions
that can almost die and come back again
if you show it a small amount of care
water it
and do not give up on it
when it shows signs of wither and loss.
Cyclamen: the flower for true love and art.
Remember a poem is never finished
only abandoned.

My grandmother used to buy me cyclamens
from the garden centre
where we had lunch on rainy days
to cheer me up when I was glum
and when they seemed to be dead
I would throw them away
not knowing yet
about the art of resurrection.

Later, she does the same.

Cyclamen: the almost dead
that I rescue from the brink
on my grandmother's balcony
and take home to tend back to life
unaware she would be dead
before I am able to bring it back to her
that flowers on my porch
pink flames and fleshy stems
a full year after we place her gently underground
a true love
circular
lasting beyond life
unable to be abandoned.

A daily resurrection
I tend with care
place in the light
and water just enough
to keep it alive
wishing people were like this
thinking maybe in a way
we are.

[Poem and photo by Miriam Barr]