Wallflower

A cigarette in the room
a veil of smoke
dislimning a short smile
for the red stars
and blue bulbs

The wallpaper caught
the shadows suspended
in the lattices of time
and made a room
for everyone

Before the wallflower
bloomed and divulged
its redolent presence
there was an oscillating hand
who grazed its petals
and bled on its thorns

But when it had gone
to dissolve with myriad shapes
and shadows of the past
the flower withered
like a bottomless hourglass

The fragrance won't come off
even in evisceration,
even in abolition,
writhing brown and crisp
like a heart disembogued
vying for its old blood

But no one pried
underneath a wallflower
so he waited for the old hands
who held him once

poem by Norman Santos
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!