A ginkgo leaf like a splayed ass

A begonia leaf is a pebbled surface
          green and burgundy

A long and narrow leaf curls down

All the different methods
          of extending yourself so the sun
          might better touch you

Serrated edges of the teardrop
          nettle leaves

sting your fingers

The nursery labels everything
          and so assigns appearances
          to names I only know from fiction

Old novels set in houses with gardens
          where the lovers meet
          or someone paces, thinking

Jonquil and clematis

Omniscient narrator
          conceived by a dead person

From the limb of a sapling in a silver tub
          the photo of a future flower
          dangles by a plastic noose

Years ago, you biked home
          with a leaf tucked under your helmet
          and taped it by its stem up on the door