ASPARAGUS SETACEUS
[Poem in Karen’s Christmas Stocking]
IS NOT, is not, a stocking
stuffer, and it’s not a fern either,
even though Wilco
will make you think so.
It is related to the asparagus,
claimed also by the lily
family. Family stockings
hung on the fireplace make one
believe in socks hung empty
by a fire place during Advent.
It’s Christmas Eve, Karen
and my gifts for you, promise
nothing, they’re as useless
as ever. This uselessness
that makes me a beginner
is the gift inside the stocking--
no holes in these toes--
the beginner knows better
than those more knowing--
the beginner is always
beginning. You’re napping
and I’m online learning how
to care for a fern that is not
a fern, wispy in a window sill
or bathroom, liking light
and water, but not too much,
one from South Africa, now
all over the place. If I can
get this right, the plant goes
to the window sill. This poem
goes in the stocking
with all my searching love.
Love, Jim
Christmas Eve, 2024
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