Thriving on Neglect

Day 27: 'write an “American sonnet.” What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.'

OK... basically a 14 line poem, rambling towards a conclusion, with a twist at the end. I can do that. 


They bring the outside inside
Giving the eye a gentle place to rest,
Kidding us, sat in our modern caves,
We still live in a lush, green space.

In the corners of each living room
My inside pots wait patiently for the rain
My outside pots are drowning in.
They sit, and wait, until I remember 
How many weeks have passed, since
Their parched soil last drank from the watering can.

I often thank my mother for the gift of the original
African snake plant, the Brazilian Christmas cactus, 
Whose offspring now thrive on my neglect;
While the spider plant hangs on by a shaky thread.

© Copyright 2024. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved



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