Orchids Poem by Mark Heathcote

Orchids are indeed highly promiscuous.
And grow in many different arduous
places and habitats from swamps to mountaintops
some with faces like monkeys or sickly lollipops
some even grow in harsh desert-like environments.
Or in Arctic tundras that feel like moments of timelessness,
some grow in tropical rainforests or on the trees
or underground without the pollination of honeybees.
Orchids have the smallest seeds of any plant.
And, wow, how they charm the fly and enchant
a beast like me. Orchid flowers hang upside down.
Stalks rotate 180 degrees to best display their ballgown.
But uniquely, I believe they have the biggest hearts.
And have aerial roots like the claws of a spread-out corpse.
Orchids, orchids—grasping life they are who we are.
When in our hearts we cling to the thaw of melting snow.