A Small Tragedy
You gave me a bonsai, as a gift.
I don’t know why…
I surely hadn’t asked for it.
Alas, its decline was swift,
Was it too wet ? Was it too dry ?
So here it sat, sentenced to die.
Others had stolen its height away,
And spawned a lap-tree pet –
To start a forest on a windowsill.
My disrepair was on display –
Alone, neglected – yet I swear
I tried so hard to care and not to kill.
I know it wasn’t cheap to buy,
And ev’ry loss of another tiny leaf
Brought grief at failing you.
As ancient as a samurai –
And here was I, ungrateful thief,
Who stole its life in a month or two.
Rhyming Couplets 