Corpse Flower

Who would wait in line to smell

A flower that’s so vile

Its odor reeks like rotting flesh,

Quite hard to reconcile

 

With all the other lovely plants

The Gardens* have on view?

I’m not sure I would make the trip

To check it out; would you?

 

This specimen, just one of four

To thrive in the U.S.

Has been here seven years, but never

Bloomed with full success.

 

Its smell will last for several days,

A putrid, corpse-like scent,

Yet strangely, all who waited

Were quite happy that they went.

 

*The Brooklyn Botanic Garden