Succumb and Last Hurrah

Succumb

Starved stems
brown and bitter blossoms
beset by vermin,
overcome with
pestilence and disease.
Even a hardy
plant withers,
is better dug out,
truncated, than to
linger.



Last Hurrah

Amid withered limbs,
anemic spent blossoms
and aphid savaged leaves,
is the tender blossom.

Blushing blaze red
and flourishing
bud, on paltry
stem. Dew nestled
in delicate
folds, promising
one last hurrah.