Bromeliads

I ate

sunlight

water

air

grew

flowered, then

propagated

From my sides

sprouted two pups that grew until they cleared my shadow, then

snip!

Sheared from me

transplanted

rooting

growing tall

—someday soon—

flowering

Bromeliads bloom only once

shortly before they die

just like the rest of us

I turn towards the sunlight—

phototropism

love, and

hunger

—and I feel the scars

on my hips