how to date a celestial pot grower

1. wait for a cloudless full moon. perfect light for hauling in fresh yards of dirt, safest done in deep quiet night.
2. remember: stealing electricity is the only real crime here.
3. burrow into his flannel sheets long before he does, anticipate his mammalian heat.
4. don’t take personally the beautiful women he hires to trim the sticky bud.
5. thin the lower leaves, release ladybugs to decimate the aphids, bury the cash in the backyard.
6. think less about power, more about generating your own warmth.
7. forgive if you can the constant flirting.
8. tend always to the mother—the whole op depends on her.
9. when you hit a live wire, lie still on cool sheets (your own) and absorb the galactic gloom of mazzy star.
10. listen for the whispers of distance in celestial.
11. say it out loud if you need to.

Jess D. Taylor‘s writing has appeared in Creative Nonfiction‘s Sunday Short Reads, Wraparound South, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Little Patuxent Review, Pidgeonholes, KQED, Superstition Review, Mutha Magazine, Traveler’s Tales, and elsewhere. She teaches college English, edits Made Local Magazine, and raises her two girls in Santa Rosa, California.