Audrey Menner Sisyphus’s Houseplants  last night my brother bumped into the flaming katy by the window  and tipped the pot over onto the floor.  he knelt down and when he picked it up by its roots, he saw that the evergre en wasn’t green, but brown  and rotted.  he asked why the soil was wet if the plant was dead   and i didn’t know how to tell him that i kept watering it because  i thought maybe it wasn’t too far gone, maybe with enough love and care  i could bring it back and then maybe i also wouldn’t be too far gone  so instead i said nothing.  he said i should have thrown it away and just bought a new one  but that doesn’t solve my other problem  and anyway i told him you’re a dead thing too should i just throw you away?  and then he got angry at me and asked me why i always have to ruin everything and i didn’t know how to tell him its because my roots are brown and rotted  and there’s no amount of water or sunlight or care that can fix that  so instead i said nothing.  this morning i woke up and the flaming katy was back in its pot by the window  but by tonight it will be knocked over onto the floor again  and i will be given the chance to say the things i couldn’t say the first time  and i will not take it because no amount of second chances can save a thing that is already dead so instead i will say nothing.