Planter Box Conceit, and: Be With

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• Planter Box Conceit, and: Be With
• Cate Lycurgus (bio)

Planter Box Conceit

How vain, to anticipate what’s beensown, foretell how the buriedwill swell. Zucchini overwhelmthe raised beds—stems straight-armout with stop-sign palms—so wide, sodeeply lobed—no companioncan grow alongside, but—whereare we merely asked to whelm? Underthe foliage, blossoms tint tangerine,thick veins net petals’ backsidesmatching my own hands; I attest—:there is no squash to speak of.Just a mess of splinters from the vine &I am also green, at wresting usefrom beauty—: instead flowers twistlike cheap napkins, droop un-plucked, un-stuffed, un-batteredup, & the chance fizzles—it did—from my shame at not turning outthe same as the rest—I wanted to beoutside it, exceptional, yield in allthe important ways—so mostly the mundane ones [End Page 34]

Be With

This is just to seewith the hoyer’s creakswhat can I dowhile daddy sinksto the mattressfor youI’ve asked mammathousands of daystimes each daynight routine sets inI find herrolling the slingfrom under hisbehind I awaitreply & am alwaysslow to take noanswer as onethe kettle cries outI am ready!for nothing reallyworth needingI can providehot water, a plainmug, which I havealready donetonight boils downto residueof tea leaves [End Page 35] I cannot readher lips or tellthe shape my aidmight takeaway the cuphas me afraidof what I amcapable of, still:to not beor stay [End Page 36]

Cate Lycurgus

Cate Lycurgus’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Best American Poetry, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She has also received scholarships from Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. Cate lives in San Jose, California, where she interviews for 32 Poems and teaches professional writing. You can find her at www.catelycurgus.com.

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