Write a poem in which one or more flowers take on specific meanings.
“the flower that smiles today,
tomorrow dies”
death is the price you pay
for living —
memento mori
the cypress flower bleeds
a deep red of five points
-
“dum vivimus vivamus”
let us live amongst lucerns,
soft mauve
spiral sepal teeth un-wrapping
-
“illegitimi non carborundum,”
gladiolus to the fighters
gladiolus to the strong
-
“sic transit gloria mundi”
speckled cherry-red laurels
gnarly branches reach for the sky
-
“from my rotting body,
flowers shall grow
and i am in them
and that is eternity”
the leaves of rosemary
carry their scent long past
when they’re picked,
keep me in your memory.
