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Unknown Koan
by Lorraine Conlin

Detailed words
fluid strokes
stream down and
across the page
he says it is a proverb, a koan
like the one I told him
about leaving the girl at the river
the day we shared our lives
discovered commonalities
I cannot read the Chinese words he wrote
he imports orchids plants from Taiwan
they arrive bare-rooted brushed clean
foreign soil is prohibited
he rents a greenhouse
employs young Latino boys
to pot the plants in our soil
he watches them root
monitors their growth
make the transition
from foreign to American
exotic flowers
from ancient seeds
grow in our soil
spread
propagate
like a proverb
like a koan

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