The Fragile Plant

On my window sill sits a very fragile plant.

You would think that its slender stems and paper-thin leaves would not survive the harsh winter drafts and lack of sunlight. You would suppose that its abuse and frequent water-deprivation from its sometimes less than doting owner would leave this poor plant hopeless and for dead.

But you would be wrong.

This little plant is stronger than it looks.

On the sometimes too-often occasion when it is found drooping and sullen with cracked leaves and broken stems, its owner has almost given up on it. "This plant needs far more attention than once thought!" the owner proclaims. The owner marvels at how the slightest lack of care can make it crumble.

How much care living creatures need. Sometimes not even immense care. Just care in general.

Acknowledgment of existence.

And when the owner blesses it with holy water trying to revive it (overdoses it with water, really, guilty and trying to make up for the weeks of ill-treatment and abuse) the fragile plant does the unthinkable.

It rises once again.

It comes back to life.

This unthinkably strong plant fights for its life, drinks in the water and remains. It reaches deep within itself and finds the strength to stand up tall and and survive.

And what's crazy is that this fragile plant, every time it is knocked down, comes back stronger than before.

Yes, it is weathered now. It has tears and rips in its precious pink-veined leaves. It has a few broken stems and several crackled limbs. But in its battle to survive, it somehow comes back stronger and fuller.

And after every war, the fragile plant seems to bloom. It says, 'Look at me! I'm still here! I took the abuse, I took the ill-treatment, I have lived through this war, and here I am! And I am beautiful and tall and lovely and I stand stronger this time because I lived through it.  And I'll do it again too. And I'll come back. Lovelier and brighter because now I know how."

This fragile plant is a hero.

It is innocent and damaged at the same time. It bravely sports its scars and cuts and battle wounds.

This fragile plant is a reminder to us all.

We should all be as strong as this fragile plant and let ourselves bloom in the night after the battle has ceased.

Because all we need to do is drink in the water. And the strength we thought we lost?

It lies within our crackled leaves.