he told me to grow my gardens full of roses because no one can resist a love like that. i let vines sprout
from my belly and buds emerge from my mouth for him – petals of pink and red for him. i think this week
maybe he wanted sunflowers instead. i grow flowers for other people, place my roots and reach to the sun
for other people, and somehow still wonder why they don’t see what i’ve grown for them. i got my hands
and knees dirty in the soil, sang to the seedlings in hope that they could care for them the way that i did.
i leave bouquets on their front steps and knock till they answer the door. they stop answering and yet i
still leave them what i grew for them. i leave these pieces of me in all the wrong places, always wondering
why i continue to shine brighter for them than they do for me.
