Flowers for the Dead

Flowers ‍ ‍ For the Dead

flowers at your grave

wilting memories

that aren’t really here

life slips away before me

whether we look or not

you aren’t

here just your name

in the ground carved out in stone

this field of dandelions above countless bones and worms

like

weeds, emptiness

ignored

cut carnations placed

instead on granite

shortened lives sadness

on full display in my eyes

all I’ve got is dying flowers for the grave of the dead

This poem is a contrapuntal. You read the first column down as the first poem, the second column down as the second poem, and then you read across to form a third.

Written February 26, 2026