The fig’s jumped:

leaves flag the forced

air, fruits bulge

like tuba bells,

one month before

spring, it’s added

a foot high.

It was brought in

for the deepest cold

and maybe thinks

the heater another

season. I’m not sure

if it’ll get out the door.

We rely on fables

and myths, tricks

to grow us, safe

in our potted soil, water

brought by pitcher,

until we harden, twisted

by what we were told,

turned by the old dream.

Jared Pearce’s books include Down Their Spears (Cyberwit, 2021) and The Annotated Murder of One (Aubade, 2018). Further: https://jaredpearcepoetry.weebly.com.