JOJOBA | Simmondsia chinensis

Ode to a Sonoran Jojoba

Oba Jojoba

Most lovely helpmate companion

Succulent soap and hero unsung

How many whales swim free

Because of your gifts of golden oils?

Generous to a fault

A sprung Persephone

Humble and enduring and slightly waxy

A blooming god in the harshness of heat and light

Pear-shaped leaves

Turk’s cap of green

You rule the sands

And yield secrets to mortals

Without complaint or repayment.

Forgive me when my eyes seek the hawk

Or the track of a lion

Or the glamour of a cereus.

It is you

Homespun bloom

Patient continuity

That I come to

In my pain

Of scrapes in need of antiseptic

Of earthly ailments

How could I love you more

Revere your woody arms

Your cloistered roots