These Flowers 

Tears are a powerful medium 

a tedium of conversation, creating fears;

they appear as a purple carnation. 

_

I look at this flower sometimes 

that has ripples like the rhymes 

that are forced into neat lines 

that pretend to be shrines 

_

can we kill it? 

rip out its stem? 

peel away the petals 

one, by one, by one? 

_

I present the strong face in the written form

to squeeze the tears out of a heart so worn

With waters of warmth that swirl into a storm

beating out of a heart throbbing with scorn. 

_

i know, i tolerate 

you when youre broken 

but are we not the same 

person? 

i listen through it 

this song of dreamy 

suicide, you love it 

_

I quest for my courage 

as carnations create creamy 

paste of my mind, my words 

unwillingly rolling to close 

that damn: 

_

its you hate yourself 

you dont have shit 

and you hate yourself 

you piss off everyone

and you hate yourself 

the world judges 

and you hate yourself 

your problems are others 

and you hate— 

_

My eyes roll back out of my head. The

poem is there and I have snagged it.

It is there 

but falling apart 

because i dont know if i can 

make it rhyme as it began. 

But I find the strength 

at length, of one mind. 

Multiple mesmerizing 

masteries of mentioning, 

_

“It will be fine,” as I drop 

the carnation and grab a daisy.

There is purity and joy in that.

Logan Heine is a UCI student and Assistant Copy Editor at the New University. He can be reached at leheine@uci.edu.

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