In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

76 hens anD chicks After I judged the spectacular sewer pipes planted with hens and chicks too tacky to keep, I began to love those succulent single moms, also called common houseleek and long ago planted on thatched roofs to protect homes from lightning bolts. Stone rose, sacred to Jupiter in the south, Thor in the north, emblem of security and prosperity, remedy for rashes, shingles, and caterpillars. To cast a curse, pay a stranger to pluck a houseleek from your neighbor’s roof. Almost asleep beside me in my bed, the child says, I want to go home. Stone rose sends up a stock of astral blooms then dies, surrounded by the offsets it produced. Sempervivum, Linnaeus called them: always life. Under a roof with someone who loves you is your home, I try to tell her, though you will always long for what’s not there. ...

Share