I went out into my backyard in search of something “boring” or “ordinary” to take a photo of and the wild menagerie (as we call it) called me over. The wild menagerie is made up of all the potted plants that have outgrown their pots, are odd looking, or are too unruly for the house. They end up on the back patio–where they seem to thrive in neglect.

I used a prompt from Matt at Ethical ELA where he describes an exercise for describing the most boring object ever (MBOE) as a way of creating fodder (and language) to make a poem. I am drawn to these plants because they remind me of roses, but instead of flowering on a stem, they seem to bloom as a head of a snake. I can imagine them sliding across the ground, intertwining their sinuous bodies as they multiply, filling up an expanse of the patio. It’s hard to remember they were once small succulents in a pot!

So here’s a poem that focuses on that particular batch of succulents who have escaped their pots and have made a “garden” for themselves on the cement of the patio.

Green globes on a stalk

slithering snakes

coiling and crawling and cavorting

beyond their pots

befriending the aloe

encouraging the spiders and lizards

cheering on all the misfit plants

who thrive in this unattended garden

a place where the most hearty

call home

When you step outside, what ordinary or boring plant calls for your attention? What poem will it conjure?