‘The quickest way to accidentally kill a succulent is to shower it with love and attention’ by Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal

Some things thrive from minor neglect
We are lucky until we are profoundly unlucky
Rewind the happiness, then press delete, don’t recollect
‘Watchful dereliction’: master this art, it’s the key

We might think we are pure as Ganges, after washing ourselves
A succulent would rather be absent in this situation
Or prefer to be relocated elsewhere, among the shelves
Where it can’t be seen or touched, or examined by palpation

Love a cactus, name it as if naming a love
There are dogs and cats named after humans
Diana, Jack, Joy, Murashka, Rex, etc. – forty names by Pavlov
For forty dogs who fell prey to his ungentle ruins

We can’t give a bad review to our cactus for dying young
Interference is death’s obsolete mother tongue

From issue #9: autumn/winter 2019

About the Author
Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal was born in Palampur, India. She was the 2021 Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at the University of Kent. Supriya’s book The Yak Dilemma is out now with Makina Books.