Saturday, December 1, 2018

Phoenix by Ijeoma Umebinyuo



Green!  Sunlight through my Fiddle Leaf Figs & pals...

Phoenix by Ijeoma Umebinyuo
From:  "Questions For Ada"

One day,
your bones will get weary
of men
who refuse to worship the God in you.
On that day,
you will either slit your soul
or gather your spirit
leaving any man
who has never called you
Holy.
Remember
how your mother kept her bones warm
on nights your father was far away.
So,
do not love a man who keeps you clinging
to the pillow for too many nights.
Stay away
from men who peel the skin
of other women, forcing you to wear them.
Remember how your mother struggled
to find her skin in the pile.
Do not
scratch your words,
soften your pain or scrub yourself in shame.
Do not
drown yourself in a man.
He will leave you struggling to breathe.
וווו×

4 comments:

Snowbrush said...

I didn't know--or, perhaps, didn't remember that you have houseplants. Are you really able to keep them looking that good in so little light? Peggy doesn't care about houseplants, so I used to keep most of mine in my bedroom. At one time, this meant that I had 40 plants there. Because I take all of my plants to the tub and rinse them every two weeks, that many plants got to be too much, so I gradually reduced the number to around 20. I like fiddle leaf figs, but they get too darned big for me to have a place for them (I feel the same way about variegated rubber plants). Now, I have a couple of aspidistras (it took me years to find my first one), a peace lily (I used to have five of those), two snake plants, and aglaonema (there's a variety of aglaonema that I've wanted for years but can't find) and various others, but I've become increasingly drawn to cacti because they're so easy and orderly. I've also eliminated my two foot grow-light which means that I only use my four foot one. I really like to sleep with my grow-light on because I like to look at my plants when I awaken in the middle of the night. I also like the idea of my plants creating fresh air and keeping the room moist while I sleep.

I see that you have a diffenbachia. They're supposed to be one of the more deadly plants that a cat might eat. Another reason I have most of my plants in my room is that cats do sometimes like to nibble, and I can keep my cats out of my room for the most part.

Have you had any experience with growing plants in enclosed containers? I've been tempted, but have yet to try it.

Snowbrush said...

Better to drown yourself in a cat, that is unless you're allergic of course.

Marion said...

Snow, I didn't know you were a plant guy. I love the Fiddle Leaf Fig because it's like living with trees! That's a South facing window and it gets full sun. I've grown every kind of houseplant by that window. I keep my zillion Aloe Vera plants in my laundry room window. I have 3 potted ones with dozens of babies in each one. I can't kill those...I've tried! I murder Peace lilies. They just don't like me. My favorite house plants are the easy to grow ones.

As far as the cats eating the plants...it's never happened through ten cats over 25 years. They scratch the hell out of the furniture, moulding & doorjams. Hey, it's wood! LOL! I do grow several poisonous plants outdoors in the Datura family but they're in large pots. xo

Snowbrush said...

I often see fiddle leaf figs on old movies and TV shows (Perry Mason being an example). I've wondered if they use the same plants in different settings.