The Way Celery Grows

 

Rip apart the package and take

out the full-grown stalk. Cut

off the base, two inches thick,

discard the rest. Fill a crystal-

clear bowl with water and drown

it in the coolness. Wait

a week and then you’ll start

to see the center rise

like a volcano forming

from rocks and mud. Day after

day, it grows closer to the sky.

A month goes by. Leaves soon

appear, taking over the three

skinny stalks tall as your hand,

like fingernails left untrimmed,

waving with each breath blowing

through the house. The water will grow

green with syrupy slime that attacks

what’s left of the base, rotting

it away into brown sludge.

I don’t know how long it takes

until it’s ready to eat.

All I know is how it grows,

taller and taller each day

until it covers the windowsill

with shade, my own little tree.