Prayer Plant
Maranta Leuconeura
she prays she’ll never lose her appetite for light
she prays for lusty stems and dust-free stomata
she prays to the colour green
and the god of lush and moisture
she prays to be released from all the slights
diva, demanding, too needy
she prays to be blessed with nitrogen feed
and the healthy arrival of baby bio
she prays for a sustainable pot she prays
to be delivered from draughts and root rot
and the evil of mealybugs and aphids
she prays for her distant tissue-cultured sisters
whose reverential vespers
are genetically identical to hers
she prays to meet threads of mycelial kindness
instead of barriers of plastic
she prays for a cure for plant blindness she prays
her devotion to CO2 will improve the global climate
she prays she’ll purify the room
and remove the sin of benzene
she prays for peace between thrips and leaves
she prays for a place she’s never seen
though she knows it in the cells
of her xylem and phloem
hears the canopy of screams
as the bulldozers raze
and say amen
Susan Richardson is a writer, performer and educator from Wales. Her fourth poetry collection, Words the Turtle Taught Me, emerged from her residency with the Marine Conservation Society and was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award. Read more.