Midwinter in the Palm House
Outside it's snowing, a lone robin grubs
for millet seeds along the cement path.
Inside it's steamy, banana palm fronds
stretch toward roof, platforms for monkeys.
Water blinks like an eye in a purple bromeliad,
bee buzzes trapped in nectar of a pitcher plant,
We explore musty forest of mosses and ferns;
hidden nitches of white catleya orchids throated
with speckled saffron. The snow melts on glass
above us. But in here, it's eternal summer.
My hand presses yours, your thumb
tracing a hieroglyph in my palm.
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Christopher T. George
Toxteth.net has a
great old photograph of Sefton Park when it was covered with snow, looking over the boating lake with the Palm House in the distance. As noted, the photograph comes from the Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool Libraries. Visit Liverpool Libraries online catalogues at
http://archive.liverpool.gov.uk
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