MAVE FELLOWES

Plant

My plant was looking out of sorts, so I
stroked cream onto each leaf
and wrapped a towel
tight around the pot like a bandage
to focus the energies.
Get better, I whispered
and lifted it onto the sofa.
I pushed two throat pastilles
into the soil with my fingers.
These will help, I said.
What do you feel like watching?

Halfway through Gardeners’ World, I
looked over and saw
the whole stem drooped over the rim of the pot
like a clump of seaweed,
spineless.
One leaf had detached and lay
curled in a fold of the towel.
Stop it, I shouted
jumping to my feet
and giving one side of the pot a hard slap
please it’s not funny get up

Mave Fellowes is the author of Chaplin & Company (Cape, 2013). Her writing has appeared recently in The Rialto, Propel, The Dark Horse, The Pomegranate London, Stand and Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal. She has a pamphlet forthcoming with Black Cat Press.