Joséphine de Beauharnais

When
she
married
Bonaparte
she became empress,
her empire her private garden.
Botany was her science, rare plants her obsession;
she grew France's first camellias, magnolias and dahlias,
and kept pairs of black swans, emus, apes and kangaroos,
but she failed to keep her husband
who needed an heir.
Gardening
sweetened
her
loss.