Fern

The new houseplant is in love
with me. At first the signs
were subtle—her energy field

intensified when I came near,
enough to raise goose bumps
on my arms, or her scent wafted

across the room to caress me
when I fell asleep reading.
But last night her coquetry

reached a new height—I rose
at a dark hour for water;
as I slipped past her moonlit space

fronds brushed my waist
with a tenderness that made me
shudder, each leaflet like lace

against my skin. I climbed
back to bed and felt her breath
on my neck like a green flame.

Dennis Trujillo from Pueblo, Colorado, is a former US Army soldier and middle/high school math teacher who happens to love poetry. He now resides in Korea and is employed at Shinhan University in the city of Dongducheon. He runs and does yoga each morning for grounding and focus and for the sheer joy of it.