Corpse Flower / Cherimoya Vine by Lin Marshall Brummels

Corpse Flower

A rare blooming corpse flower rests

against an ancient cross. Its unsavory

perfume inhabits this abandoned cemetery

like a bedridden corpulent man’s festering

sores. Heavy fog swaths the unharvested

valley below, blocking our view. Imaginary

scent drifts in unholy waves when carried

on winds from the river, unnecessarily

giving us all time to pause and consider

the direction our eccentric lives are heading

from rather humble working-class roots

in farm country to scrounging for glittering

trinkets in this sacred place, dreading

war if we’re found with this bag of loot.

Cherimoya Vine

I dream of fruit that tastes of cherries and apples.

A seed filters through the fingers of my right hand,

grows fast and strong in fertile Nebraska land,

covers an arbor in a year, provides dappled

shade for the crop the second season, comparable

to fruit of the Cherimoya tree in Ecuadorian highlands,

banana and papaya custard heaven secondhand

to none, many often wish it grew across the map.

The magic of my dream changes this little seed

into a wonder-vine that flourishes at low altitudes

as in my agricultural zone five, sweet fruit

like the pawpaw that grew easy as a weed,

nourishing early settlers, a favorite food

of George Washington who wanted no substitute.

Lin Marshall Brummels is a Nebraska licensed mental health practitioner and certified professional counselor. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master’s degree In Rehabilitation Counseling from Syracuse University.  She has  published a poetry chapbook and has poetry in journals, magazines and anthologies.