propagation

Anyone can tell you 

that it is not in the blooms. 

Those, like fruit, 

are meant for the outside world.

Gifts, you could call them

or missives. 

The leaves, too,

are disposable.

Falling often and quickly

only to be replaced by 

younger contenders. 

No, it is some deeper place

some invisible point 

beyond which 

there is not enough body 

to resurrect.

Standing before a houseplant

one hand on a sharp instrument 

the other on a stem 

you must draw

from some buried instinct

to decipher where 

the life of a thing resides.