Travelers Welcome

Travelers Welcome

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The good of a thing

by Michael Mark

They pull to a stop and contemplate
the long stem.

“An orchid,” she forces from her mouth’s
side. “Was.”

A stroke put her in the wheelchair.
Diabetes took his legs.

“Someone should dump it,” he says. “What
good is the thing without a flower?”

When the speakers announce dinner,
they roll off to their rooms.

Later, the cleaning woman will throw
the plant away or ignore it or

take it home in a plastic bag to nurse
back to health, leaving

the vase dusted clean
enough to see one’s reflection.

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