Expatriates

 

One tends to scoff hearing of that old

platitude 'love at first sight', but this is

something I know of first-hand for at first

sight I fell in love. One hears of such as

when living abroad an irresistible attraction

to a resident of a strange culture occurs

one is smitten and love blooms. As it did

with me. I purchased the object of my desire

and planted it in the tiny garden of the house

where I lived in that Far East locale. There

it grew, nourished by my tender care and its

blooms were cherished so dear to my heart.

Living now in my native land vastly more

accommodating to an extensive garden that

same plant cultivated for residence in a far

more demanding landscape of harsh winters

whispers its distress as I solace it with all the

enhanced care I can muster, yet it deigns not

to bloom even at risk of sundering our mutual

romance. Finally, it relented taking pity on my

shattered heart, opening wide its petals to

ravish my eyes and palpitating heart, at long

last accommodating itself to an exotic locale.