I was
unknowingly
waterlogging
this plant.

The
tendency
to suffocate
in place of
nurturing

comes
naturally
to me.

—

when it
arrived,

i sat it in
direct sunlight

causing
it’s leaves
to dry out,

brittle,

and
fall off.

i stuck those
dead parts
under it’s
living ones,

so they
could lay
together.

“maybe,
this
Could be
good for you,”

i bet it.

—

i went to
water it
again today,

but I
found it
[already]
swimming

in my excess
attention.

—

to change
my ways

i gathered
it’s dead,

lifted inner
plastic shell
from
ceramic vase;

freeing it
to breathe
again

from my
overcompensated
attempts at love,

and apologized.