Dying to love

Sure enough
    four petals   a touch of orange in the stem
knee-high
That’s Farsetia.
   This is the only place you will find it
On top of a hill, green in August           
A short-lived trick
   Then, a return to bare and rocky
            I take inspiration from rock-loving plants
Clinging on somehow in the pediment of a dry wasted
hill.

   Here’s the bullying shrub from Mexico:
 Baavlia (the mad one)
       Crazy enough to seek this place
    It hunkers down and digs itself in
       double monolithic rocks

My love!
It’s not easy being a desert shrub
Succulence, like a cactus
is a good tactic
Moisture holding roots
work well too
But, by far, the best strategy
     is to choose to live
for a short period.

There’s no need to survive a drought
You’ve got to avoid it. Live life breezily
when the conditions are good
                         Skip out when it turns nasty
  Rush through the life cycle
Flower and fruit in the window
                          of opportunity
Leave the rains to perpetuate the genes.
                        Beloved,
Deep in the sands
    I await
       the drizzle of your love.

__
Salil Chaturvedi
salilwheels@gmail.com