by Hayley ig@xyhayleyy
I don’t know when it happened,
but the flower beds outside my office building
have been replanted with begonias.
Begonias in every colour.
A few years ago,
I grew them everywhere.
I propagated cuttings
from different varieties and colours,
keeping them in jars of water
all around my place.
Every few days,
I changed the water
and watched them grow.
Once they had grown enough
fine white roots,
I moved them into pots.
They bloomed all autumn.
By winter,
the flowers had withered.
The leaves had fallen.
I looked around my place.
Every cutting.
Every pot.
Every colour.
All dying
at the same time.
I thought I had done something wrong.
Only then did I learn
they were never going to survive the winter.
Even as I watched them take root,
winter was already waiting.
If I had known,
would I still have put
the first begonia cutting in water?
I don’t think I would have.
But the answer is still too recent
to stay the same.