Danielle Reyes

Professor Sidibe

enw 210

4/1/19

“The Flowers of the Unknown “

I was told by  my mother as a seed that

the gardeners were our salvation

Our planters for a better life

But oh, how that garden rose was wrong

These gardeners pick and choose

Who to save

Who to throw away

And those in the way of their own “righteous” space

Oh! My lovely Mimosa

Lovely and light

At a touch, she flinches away

How they’ve tainted your air with their hate in which you swallowed up and ate

How they’ve pushed and pulled at your roots continuously putting you on the move

Oh! My delicate Diphylleia

Tall and pristine

How the toxic acid rain spit out by others

Caused your beauty to deteriorate and your body to bend and break

For our beauty

Remarkable

Yet unknown to the gardeners of a garden rose

For they can not see that your  thorns and vines are the spikes of your crown

And your mixed matched petals are the opals of your collection

Rare

bright

And worn by few

For my flowers of the unknown

You do not need to be placed in a vase to know

That the light shined on a garden rose is also shined on you

“ Stay”

I, like many, have been told my road is nothing but

mold, dirt, and sand

That the green stacked soldiers are likely not to march through

So I’ve tried to go on the  road Of crystal gravel

I felt cold

Yet i stayed

I began to feel the gravel trying to leave imprints on my sole

In front,a continuous line of forced partakers in aching pain .Some still dusted in dirt with only tears washing it away

our heavy breathes begin to condensate and my left breast began to ache

Yet i still stayed

I tried and tried to build a  crystal home, but the warm rays of the sky were too weak

In fact

No light could reach

This  prism of possibilities were nothing more but  tints and shades of white and black

the most color in the room came from the black  blue half moons placed on my face

How could I stay?

In a place so cold

So i left

Where my dreams shine in hot pinks and taste of citrus fruit

Where my sole and the ground intertwine like the hands of perfect strangers do

Warm, enticing, inviting, and new

I’ll stay rooted in my warm dirt cocoon

manifesting it with colors and views unknown to you.

With purples

Blues

Every color in every hue

This is where i stay

THE DRAFT