I want to write a poem
to describe the dying roses on my counter
to capture smoky brown fingerprints
on crumpled lavender petals
heads hung on once green stems
limp over a blown glass vase
leaves crunchy and curled
veins dry
It may be morbid:
this fascination with decay
and how it can be beautiful.
It reminds me of you.
It’s summertime
and I like to wear all black
and I like the way your hair sticks to your neck
when you pull weeds in the garden
and I like the way you pick a hydrangea bloom
and put it behind my ear.
Because, you say,
darkness will come back much too soon.
Originally published in Local Gems Press.
Rae Rozman is a middle school counselor in Austin, Texas. Her poetry frequently explores themes of queer love (romantic and platonic), brain injury, and education. Much of her work centers quotidian moments, examined and overexamined. New to publishing her poems, you can find a few in the Stonewall’s Legacy poetry anthology. When not sitting at her desk, Rae reads copious amounts of novels (her favorite being science fiction) and spends time with her partner and their two rescue bunnies.