Orchidaceae
by Sarah Kersey
What would you ask / an orchid if you could ask it anything?
-“Interrogators of Orchids” by Maggie Smith
I’d ask for an explanation
Where does the blue go when it leaves / the sky? What does
sunlight feel like / in your throat? Is there pain in your perpetual /
back-bend? Do bees taste like honey? / Is pollination consensual?
before I asked a favor
of grandiose proportions.
Could you let me know when I’m about / to die? Do me the honor
of jumping out / of your vase as a fifteen-minute-warning? / Let
me know so I can say / “I love you” one last time, feel the moon /
on my shoulders?
Tell me it gets easier learning
to the love the world.
Should I become a Buddhist for some peace / about what comes
next? Are orchids religious? / How do I quiet this trembling? Why
do I waste / these days on grief? Why can’t I stop?
Tell me the ache around
impermanence fades away.
Will I be mercurial forever? Does it hurt always / to love the
world? Will I ease into grace before / death? Does the poet’s heart
live on? / Will my dust collect on your petals?
And one last thing: tell me
I won’t feel alone.
If reincarnation is real, can I join you / on a branch? May I be
purple? / Can I have the window-seat?
-“Interrogators of Orchids” by Maggie Smith
I’d ask for an explanation
Where does the blue go when it leaves / the sky? What does
sunlight feel like / in your throat? Is there pain in your perpetual /
back-bend? Do bees taste like honey? / Is pollination consensual?
before I asked a favor
of grandiose proportions.
Could you let me know when I’m about / to die? Do me the honor
of jumping out / of your vase as a fifteen-minute-warning? / Let
me know so I can say / “I love you” one last time, feel the moon /
on my shoulders?
Tell me it gets easier learning
to the love the world.
Should I become a Buddhist for some peace / about what comes
next? Are orchids religious? / How do I quiet this trembling? Why
do I waste / these days on grief? Why can’t I stop?
Tell me the ache around
impermanence fades away.
Will I be mercurial forever? Does it hurt always / to love the
world? Will I ease into grace before / death? Does the poet’s heart
live on? / Will my dust collect on your petals?
And one last thing: tell me
I won’t feel alone.
If reincarnation is real, can I join you / on a branch? May I be
purple? / Can I have the window-seat?
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Sarah Kersey earned her MFA in poetry from Eastern Washington University in 2022. Her work has been published or is upcoming in Poet Lore, Atlanta Review, Birdcoat Quarterly, CIRQUE, and more. She was a finalist in Atlanta Review’s 2022 International Poetry Contest, as well as a finalist in Sunspot Literary Journal’s 2022 Geminga contest. She currently teaches English at North Idaho College and Gonzaga University.
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