The Elder Plant fell today
Knocked askance, dirt everywhere
Culprit in custody, wagging
We think it will survive
Gently patted into new soil
Crushed leaves smoothed, sunned
It is older than the culprit
Older than our marriage
Cuttings taken from mother plant
A decade ago, a thousand miles away
That plant cut, in turn, from another
When the Elder Plant fell today
How many generations tottered
How many years plummeted
Spraying butterfly wings of soil

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