The Horticulturist

I asked my sister
if I might take her bonsai tree
with me to college.

It was to be
my small Asian responsibility.

I almost killed it though,
despite my best intention.

Green limped toward yellow—
and when I saw it dying,
the small part of me
buried
down deep
under missing hearts,

I did what I always do
when faced with something I can not do:

I brought the bonsai to you.

Jae Newman

Jae Newman works in Rochester, New York, where he lives with his wife. He is currently working toward his MFA in poetry through a brief-residency program at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.