Lyric

I moved the pot toward light

Then turned it back by noon

I changed the water twice

And waited in the room

The leaves stayed folded in

The stems leaned out of place

The bottom of the clay

Kept holding too much shade

I blamed the window

I blamed the rain

I blamed the softness of my hands

But something underneath remained

Wrong Soil

Not wrong roots, not wrong rain

I kept changing the light

For ground that would not change

Nothing failed the way I thought

It only could not take

I loosened every edge

And checked the drainage tray

The water gathered there

Like words I could not say

The moss looked almost kind

The grit looked almost clean

But nothing settled down

Where it was never meant to be

I blamed the season

I blamed the air

I thought that care could make a home

From something never built to bear

Wrong Soil

Not wrong roots, not wrong rain

I kept changing the light

For ground that would not change

Nothing failed the way I thought

It only could not take

Maybe nothing broke

Maybe nothing lied

The roots knew before I did

They were asking for another side

Wrong Soil

I can name it without blame

Not every living thing

Can grow inside one frame

I will not call the roots unkind

For pulling from this place

I lift the plant with care

I let the old dirt fall

The pot was almost home

But not a home at all