Neighbor Flowers

Neighbor Flowers

Listen, she said, we must use stealth!
And he said, Yes, yes, I will help.
No, she said, stealth!
I will sing secrets to the flowers,
a midnight lullaby to warn their roots.
Then in the morning, all the wood doves,
in their cadenced tears, will coo
a spring concert, and you and i will steal
the spring flowers in a flurry of strong will.
She worried her eyes out the window pane,
where the clouds, effaced with window smears
formed pale white lines
He watched her there, his hands
fiddling his pockets, as he turned,
a small coin, round and round.
He was disturbed.
I'll just go ask the neighbor
for the flowers..
No! she said..a given flower
won't grow..it is too lazy,
lies about content,
not at all the same, not like,
the flower that meant,
to live in green & blue,
& never break,
into the confines of a glass or vase.
She stared at him until he looked away.

Reviews

[W.k.kortas]

Once again, the learned Emily has hit the nail on the head. The piece is almost comic at times, at least on the surface, but there is a nagging undertone of compulsion and misunderstanding and unfulfilled longing--there is dramatic tension, and it is palpable. It's another teensty-weentsy compressed novel; it's difficult to comprehend how so much can go on in so little space.

[Emily B]

he just didn't understand at all . . . the tone of the thing reminds me of some of Robert Frost. maybe it is the dialogue. it is a compelling glimpse at a relationship. he doesn't understand her urgency. and maybe she doesn't understand it, either, she just knows she must.