Nigra Bamboo

By Maggie Sawkins

We thought the planting of it

would enhance our patio garden,

but its stems hardened.

Now after four years

it has obscured the view

from the bedroom window.

We have considered pulling it up

by its roots,

hacking its new shoots with secateurs,

but to do so

would have proved premature.

Besides,

there was no wheelbarrow

big enough to shift it.

But now the sparrows have arrived.

Watching their demure pecking

of the yellowing leaves

has become a meditation.

Perhaps if it wasn’t for this virus

coming to slow the world’s beat,

we wouldn’t have noticed it.

The ramshackle nest

at the bamboo’s heart.

Inspiration: During lockdown I passed the time by staring out of the window in the back bedroom of our house in Chelsea Road. Settling my mind on the bamboo plant, which had grown to eye level, and all the goings on within it, enabled me to capture the poem.

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay.