succulent

the teacher says he hasn’t
done any written work in three weeks

the mother says the educational psychologist says
that’s because the child is gifted

the teacher says there are other words for it
the principal says the mother has given her child

too much water
God knows when she grows up

she will burst through the swollen chest
of her child like a succulent flower

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Chris Stewart lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch. His poems have been published in a variety of journals in Aotearoa, including previously in takahē. A selection of his work was featured in AUP New Poets 6.