Magnolia
leaves, large some flat cut into, flutter slightly in hundreds, light green
under green. It’s the last day of October. New shoots now flourish across elms
high above rooftops. Bush orchids project from dark mud, their cold green
holding back forms of pinky-green flowers. Thistles, their down blown, and
spindly grasses pushing small blooms, share a roadside plot with lost opium poppies,
their leaves seeming repentant, their heads bent, unopen. Level on level of
callistemon branches, their green resistant strategies at work, ready with what
colour time has arranged. Jades in pots line a verandah, and cacti, greens
varying.
