First Date Flowers
written by: Emalisa Rose
With a poem and a parasol, we’re strolling
the 4th street fiesta. You wore blue in the
rain, coloring Sunday for me. Next to the
carousel, the gal with the parrot hair
selling those seed packets promising Spring.
Clouds fill the sky theatre on the train ride
back home. Counting the crows on the high
wire, we pull into the station. A rainbow of
passersby open umbrellas, walking quickly to
cars or to Ubers. You toss out some seeds onto
the patchwork of grass that plays peek-a-boo
waiting for wildflowers. “Pink for our girls;
blue for our boys,” you say. I laugh that it’s only
our first date. You pick up a branch with some
leaves that still dangle, weaving a crown through
my hair. Then you cross to the north side, blow
me a kiss and head back to the city. I cradle the
leaves on the branch, putting two in my palm,
holding your heart in my hands.
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