The Bois d’Arc (Bodoc) Tree

Cousins gave me three green balls,

Big as big softballs and

Textured exactly like a smooth human brain.

I left them alone on the patio,

Aging them to the point of rotting.

I collected a handful of the grey synapses, and

Planting them in average potting soil,

Left them to grow amid much neglect.

Five or six sprouts came forth,

Two survived at first,

But only one lived on.

It is now about four feet tall,

Sporting the thorns which guarantee its pedigree,

Extending its green pointy leaves

To store up as much food as it can

Before the fall and cold weather will strip it

Leaving only a whip of a trunk

Until spring will bring it back to life.

--August 18, 2013