Belle
Artist: Agnes Kokot
Petals soft as newborn skin
Infinite folds and countless layers
Asleep alive, its dreamless rest
Bowed as if in silent prayer
Each dawn she languidly unfurls
Enticing sway, this tempting maiden
Lurching clumsy pests soon root
Amongst her tendrils heavy laden
She be not a fragile beauty
Makes believe with drooping stems
Dropping fronds as snakes shed scales
Pooling round her root like gems
A siren but of loam and dirt
Her song a scent forever sought
A surrogate to gratitude
Elicits thanks for doing naught
So hack at stalks, we blossom butchers
Steal their blooms like heartless thieves
Oblivious to wilted posies
Indifferent to their yellowed leaves
Yet they are gluttons for the reaping
Prized, their ephemerality
None but flower better suited
Fulfilling bliss, their destiny