Eavan Boland calls the Poetry Crisis Line

Note: I’m not above retconning a potted plant, but I need to boast that the dried-out fern on Rosie’s desk dates back to her first appearance.

 

From “How We Made a New Art on Old Ground” by Eavan Boland

ROSIE (counselor): Poetry Crisis Line, what is your emergency?
EAVAN BOLAND (caller): Follow this silence to its edge
ROSIE:   …   …   …
BOLAND: And you will hear
ROSIE: Oh. I didn’t realize we’d reached the edge.
BOLAND: the history of air.
ROSIE: Oral or written?
BOLAND: The crispness of a fern.
ROSIE: Yes, mine has gotten kind of crunchy. I should water it.