To a Dying Plant

You want a smoke?

You might as well
You ain't got much time left

I could sandy-dress it for you
But it ain't going to smell right
No how matter how much perfume we pour on it

You feelin' dry?
Arid-like?

Better off this way

I don't know where plants go when they die
But I'd sure as hell bet it's a nicer place
Than this shithole

Look at you

Sitting in an old Taster's Choice can
Like that's any way to live

Leaves falling everywhere
And the ones still stuck to you
Turning all crispy
Like Pringles potato chips

I should just put my cigarette out on you
And let you go out in a blaze of glory

But killing a living thing is a sin
And anyway, Cody still thinks he can save you

Gotta live kids
They think they can save anything
If they love it enough

It's all those damn fairy tales
Where the prince cries on the princess
And she wakes up from the coma
Like it was a catnap
And tears are made of magic

Ain't no magic in tears
Trust me on that one, bud

But Cody, with his mom dying and all
And me being sick
Thought he could take care of a plant at least
Thought he could at least control that

Didn't have the heart to tell him
That death lingers around this family
Like stink on a skunk's ass

He'll figure it out on his own
Eventually

In the meantime, I'd advise you
To stop trying to make roots
Down in that coffee can

You know you're going to die
Just as much as I do
You and me, we're both goners
And the only dignity a goner gets
Is getting to go quietly

So stop trying to hang out
For the sake of the kid

Better to just rip the band-aid off now
And be done with it

Not that I don't admire your fight

's nice seeing something want to live so badly
It'll try to keep on living even while it's shoved in a dark corner
Crammed into nothing more than an over-sized sardine can
With nobody who gives a shit about it
Except some eight-year-old kid

Gives you something, seeing that

Something like hope
Or what feels like it

Something almost like hope