Oh Basil plant. Remain with us. We realize that we have neglected you, taking your fresh green presence in our household for granted.

But don’t leave us now! Don’t desert us in our of need! Imagine how empty and grieved we would feel if we got up in the mornings expecting to see your cheery, perky leaves basking in the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window, and then staggered backwards and gasped as it all came back to us when we saw a sad empty pot of dirt, as dead as a coffin.

You brighten our lives. You season our meals. You release oxygen for us to inhale. Please don’t die. Stay with us. I promise to get you a rosemary plant as a companion. Maybe even some oregano.