THE GOLDEN CUP

(For Azi Azonga, the very first of my children, and therefore the pioneer; the trailblazer; the raider device; the curtain raiser. I had her when I was 29 and was perhaps more of a teenager than an adult.

To her mum Vicky be the praise! And to God be the glory!)

(A rose flower just for you)

It was a rose periwinkle

Some call it the rosy periwinkle

But it`s the same thing

It`s the Catharantus roseus

Of the plantae kingdom

Of the gentianales order

Of the Apocynaceae family

An unranked angiosperm

An unranked eudicot

An unranked asterids.

It may not be the eagle

The eagle

Your choice bird

I mean the flying eagle

But it`s evergreen

Herbaceous

Leafy

Attractive

Graceful

Pink

Ornamental

Naturalized

Tropical

Subtropical

Global.

It yields vincristine and vinblastine

It`s medicinal

This shrub with the five-petaled pink flower is life-saving

That`s why in India it`s called

Good Night

Shameless Maria

Cat`s Vinca

It`s mystical

Because the French term it the sorcerer`s violet

But this flower is also toxic

That`s why in Italy it is the flower of death

Kilham knows this only too well.

The rose periwinkle is a treasure to keep

That`s why it was a rose periwinkle

But one without a dimple

When I picked it

It turned into a golden cup

And I`m sending you this golden cup

Just for you

Today

Right now.