Red Geranium on an Isolation Ward

From The Zig Zag Woman (Two Ravens Press)

She knew how to die --
the earth around her stem
was so dry it refused
the water we poured there

 

and though, like a ritual,
we snapped off
each bruised cluster
before it had time
to fall,
there was no renewal --

 

even the sun pushing
its fist through the window
could not coax her.