phr. sweetbitter farewells and severed vines
frangible
withered
stems
bend
and
snap
like
ligament
from
frantic
disused
figures
You do not belong here
This is not your garden
You will not tarnish
You will not deprave
I will not breathe
the air you grieve.
Sprawled across the marble floor,
half-uprooted columns of watchful inflorescence.
The ground murmurs.
Dismembered leaflets on a flowerbed casket,
omnivorous lietraps, pale white luminescence.
You don't hold funerals for gardens
Plants don't have a heaven
We suckled hastily on cold liquor.
Traces of vile limerence from insipid endosperm,
an appalling pure white
like your delusional morality.
Our obligate pairing left lavender bruises
You walked the thorned path and I ran through sharp willows
Return to the garden,
for the crops
require your attention.
Full stomates, under glass roofs,
prolific tongues, we should be grateful.
You only cared for us
by necessity—cross-patterned foliage, whispered denial.
You flayed these
mutilated leaves,
castaneous strips of epidermis
dressed in false conditional love.
Look at the garden, look at the consequences of your actions.
You burned this place with your swift,
thorough temper, along with every last
unblemished memory.
Pots and vases that were once lived-in, in disarray;
cinder crumbs of cremated languages
meld into marred soil.
You left us to wilt and bathe in dead white nectar.
One by one, you rend the petals of your maculate
offspring
Keel by keel, this miscarriage of wrath blights your
marrowface
One bad apple, and the eve tree rots
enslaved
One bad day, and you threw it all
away
Unborn fruits deliquesce
This vitriolfertile makeup
Of an alligator pear
Unnaturally selected
Undesirable
Desired everything
a perfect flower
it did not
know how to breathe
in lustre() the only
sustenance it was taught
to give() it was blind
in its own capacity to
receive()
so it starved()
and starved alone()
eventually it;
learned how;
to feed;
in the
dark()
e ve ntually
it stop ped
brea thing()
unt il
it breathe d
dar k
ness
so
bl
in
di
ng
you
cou
ld
only
perceive
the
Remember your kindness. You wanted to forget. Your blithing light. That unforgettable sight. A comforting clear white, like the pallid glint of dew from your eyes when I told you that you shouldn't be sorry for not being enough.
| we were outsiders to each other’s gardens | you sheltered me from frigid climes | but i hated you |
| and we watered these seeds all the same | i didn't welcome you | with every pore and filament |
| we were two-of-a-kind | and i too should've sheltered you | in this deciduous body |
| cuddled lentils in a pod | we could've been each other’s vines | but you can still be kind |
| you are indeterminate | ⚘ ⚘ | don’t forget that |