10-1/4" square
Ink drawing printed over watercolor

Orchid Pollination IV

A practical construction underlies
The practices of deals and subterfuge.
Like hedges, pleated petals act as guides
Or, wrapped around themselves, conduct through tubes
The vehicles that carry on the trade.
But other means make sure they stay on course:
Sometimes mechanical devices aid
The process with a little extra force.
A petal doorstep-landing pad invites;
The trader lands, and turns it on a hinge,
To tip the petal up and by his weight,
Release a spring that throws the insect in.
He’s waxed with something sticky where he’s fallen,
Then, buffed and powdered, exits robed in pollen.