ZUCCHINI
Zucchini plants need breathing space.
I appropriated for them all the space I could,
But my garden sustained only two.
Their neighbors' rights were respected:
Big Boy tomatoes towered to the left,
Cruciferous broccoli row-lined below.
The balance of rain and sun were ideal.
The zucchinis strutted forth--stems elongated,
Entangling, exotic foliage enfolded.
Their orange daylilies blossomed and,
Pulsating from the core,
Malachite fruit emerged.
All summer they promenaded
In ostentatious pageantry,
Greens stretching taller and wider.
But there came a day in August
One zucchini plant seemed exhausted.
It drooped, collapsed, withered.
Watering mightily, I willed it to revive.
You can make it!
And half the plant perked up.
Seeing half the plant trying,
I admire its valor
And identify with it.