bananas

Bananas

All hope of ever eating a banana off of my trees is gone.

All hope that they will ever get past three feet high is gone.

All hope that they will take that hot sunny corner of the house and turn it cool and damp is gone.

I have tried trimming, fertilizing, and praying.

Yes, there is such a thing as banana prayer.

It involves banana sacrifice.

There are old labels saying Chiquita and Dole all over the ground in that patch of banana plants,

and old, rotting banana skins from fifty mornings of banana breakfasts.

But the gods do not give me a single banana on my trees.

I am told that banana plants breed rats and water bugs and palmettos galore but I don’t care.

I see they are shedding plants that make volumes of rotten leaves but I don’t care.

I guess I still hold out hope.

One day I will eat a banana from my trees.