Floral Axis

This is not a concentration of dramatic method.
There appears to be a growing expectation
language can be trusted for clarity, a petal,
yet these segments are modified & leave a waxy
matter of vested economy in the operations
for hope & future stamen. Tight attachments
require unconventional preparation & filaments
of sterility spread over ornamental appeals.
Listening to him in place of her—an impression
of stalk on skin—she tried to sticky tape
over the mouth of a vase in a criss-cross motion
to fluently arrange the bell-shaped flowers.
But her leaf-stripped camellias did not wholly
behave—resisting the expected roles of containers.
He snacked on her fluster while her neck heaved
the way the camellia flowers hang. She thrust
her body down, lay the wet bunch over her lap
& split each flower away from stem. Their heads
now floating in the cool water of a shallow dish,
scalloped for embellishment outside of a body.