Penchant Naturel

by FREDERIC LAROS
A NATIVE of Malaga
given to memorabilia
carried to Australia
one potted prickly pear
literal souvenir
against nostalgia.
Beauty born of such endeavor
spreads; it is a pest forever.
In St. John’s River
(instance 2) the water-hyacinths
have been a gaudy nuisance since
a sentimental lady cast her cache
of bulbs into the water.
Still to clear the artery they hack
through rafts of tubers there,
as on t he net her continent they check
only by vigilance the pear.
Rampant is the spawn of old caprices
abandoned to their natural devices.