Rhienna Renée Guedry :: “Our gardens are just environments we pretend to control”

So instead of another panic
attack I repot the plant whose        
       fibers &               roots need more
space       I borrow good
soil from two pots, I put my          hands in     
dirt       my hands
             around the shoulders
             of roots        like
life, like death,

Like rescue              I want to move        earth
objects       want something        to do       with my hands to
keep them from shaking              but it is more than that
             I need something to
             thrive if we aren’t, so dirt
spills out on the
                                     counter & the floor, it gives me
                                     purpose     to clean the      mess
I made       my own damn self       

&               on the parcel of land
where I hover, I eat, I sleep & plant into
                                                  I think
                 about       which plants will
                 survive             despite my intervention how
some fruit craves neglect      & some
seeds     erupt in garbage

        & yet someone on the internet
asserts that       piss  provides an excellent source of
              nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium & trace elements for plants
                          Ain’t that the way
        drill for oil        destroy a coastline
                       blow up a levee       save one mansion
Piss on a garden bed, it is nourishment
I am helping 

Rhienna Renée Guedry (she/they) is a writer, illustrator, and producer whose favorite geographic locations all have something to do with their proximity to water. Her work has appeared in Muzzle, Gigantic Sequins, Empty Mirror, HAD, Oyster River Pages, and elsewhere. Rhienna is currently working on her first novel. Find out more about her projects at rhienna.com