Endicott Undergraduate Poet: Megan Donahue

 

Megan Donahue is a freshman at Endicott College studying English with a minor in Digital Media: Concentration in Film and Television Production. She hopes to one day be a screenwriter and director. She is passionate about film watching and film making, and she loves storytelling as well as poetry, reading, and painting.

Confessions of an Amateur Plant Owner

I over water my plants, though they never see much sunlight-not a lot comes in through dusty dorm windows.

And I tend to like the smell of wet soil, and for some time,

the resilient spider plant found comfort in its dark, damp home.

But recently, some of the leaves have turned brown, the consequences are beginning to show.

Perhaps I was not taught the proper way to love and care for this nature thing, perhaps my approach has been wrong all along.

Perhaps it was the routine put into place, after being told I water it too much-once every five days, rather than every other.

Don’t overfeed, it will grow sick and tired, its roots will rot and it will lose its vigor.

Don’t underfeed, the leaves will wilt and crumble, and the roots will rot the same.

Yet I tried everything in between, and the conditions were unchanging.

But then again, maybe it is the shifting of the seasons-

the spider plant survived the winter, inside with the heat on. And now it’s spring, and I keep the windows open a crack, mild air in the day, cool ocean breeze at night-so, resilience does have an Achilles heel.

All my methods and alterations have been wrong, but this feels wrong too.

Maybe it’s time to cut off the supply,

end the biting of my hand.