“ My Third Salvia “ ...

“ My Third Salvia “

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

My Third Salvia
heavily mulched
with salt hay
and shredded leaves
propagated from cuttings
in early spring
yielding blackish purple
persistent calyces
placed with night-scented stock
and sweet rockets
putting “perennial” in quotation marks
as regards to winter hardiness
scrambling in rock gardens
vase-shaped blossoms
flaring harmony temperatures dropping
without a trace of harshness
low and prostrate soft and gray
yet virtually impossible to eradicate
having been avoided as a troublemaker
sulking pining away beginning in April
emerging in May as increasing days
lengthening becoming lanky
and in need of staking
given common names
like “naked ankles”
while branching
from the base...