Johnson’s Blue Geranium

As late I returned to that corner café,

so favoured by Montreal hipsters;

I could not tell any of my old friends

what happened after that stinky summer.

It was spring and I spotted what I thought

were Instagrammable crocuses

but were, I was told, Siberian squills

or maybe Johnson’s blue geraniums.

Traditionally, blue geraniums

symbolize a gentle constancy,

where the Siberian squill represents

being murdered by Joseph Stalin.

I would have eaten them all, like a cow,

just to ease the pain of not knowing.

I returned to that corner cafe squinting,

having long run out of quelling lies.

(after Keats)