I separated them today
As you instructed …
Already the vines had begun
To release their tiny tendrils,
So that one plant was sort of
Clinging to the other, its leaves
Furling about the other’s stem.
I could not remember which
Was which because the tags
Had fallen off, but the one
That was being strangled
Had yellowed and declined …
I did as you said, choosing the
Deeper pots, situating them
High in the soil and allowing
Room for the roots to better
Establish themselves, unshadowed
By the tea tree’s vast canopy—
And closer to the light.
It was still a mystery whether
We had bought two of the
Wrong kind, and whether
Two different kinds would
Cross-fertilise, but I left them
To do what they might do
In the garden’s sunniest spot.
When I woke in the night to the rain,
After so many days of drought,
I lifted myself from the tangle of
Your long arms and legs
And sat up, imagining them,
Creeping up the fence line,
Their vines heaving with fruit.
Suneeta Peres da Costa’s latest book, Saudade (Giramondo, 2018), about the legacies of Portuguese colonialism and the Goan diaspora in Angola, was shortlisted for the fiction categories of the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2019 and the 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature.
