The Bonsai

The Bonsai
She opened the
shining gift wrap
And delighted she was
to find that exotic bonsai.
The beautiful tree
so carefully tamed
to be dwarfed
with gentle love
that it was contented
inhibited.
Excited, she asked friends
and the internet
some upkeep tips.
The tips whispered
to water it once a week
to give curbed outdoors
and watched routine
to keep it wired and
to clip it if grew out
unpermitted
so it looked the beauty
it should be
adding grace to the room
tamed with finesse and precision
diligently laboured to be stunted.
Holding it admiringly
in her perfectly manicured hands
she kept it on the foyer table
in front of a pompous mirror.
And suddenly
she heard the little bonsai
silently groaning
from behind the mirror.
It started growing hands and a face
and mysteriously morphed
into a little girl
she knew from her childhood.
Horrified, she closed her eyes
And then slowly and reluctantly
opened them
leaning closer to the mirror.
To find the bonsai there again.
Standing still

under the display lights.
Relieved, she sighed
and dismissed it
like her other odd dreams.