Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s Requiescat 

 

The buds jumped out of the dirt and held the Sun's hand 

A nervous sweaty leaf 

It did not expect to feel the glow 

She found Its fingers like an otter afraid to float adrift 

Whispering, “it isn’t time to hear the daisies grow.” 

 

The earth could burn and It wouldn’t know 

On Its skin She landed butterfly kisses 

And kept It from wilting 

A breath away, Her touch It already misses 

Its shallow heartbeat suddenly quickening 

 

Distance between and hollow below 

In Her rays, It saw her sea eyes 

Blue-green dye, It wished to lie inside  

Creatures living in Her caught It by surprise 

It wished to lay in this moment mummified. 

 

It looked down at Its leaf  

And saw a mark left by the biting Sun 

Rain fell and fell and so did a petal 

A few days now She’s been gone 

Flower still waiting by the kettle 

 

The clouds finally part, and her lips return 

Its anatomy no longer unsettled 

“Requiescat to your petal,”  

She says to me with brighter glow, 

“but it isn’t time to hear the daisies grow.”