May Crowning - Emily Perkovich

Dry earth splits with repulsion

There is a paradox in the crying shame that a dehydrated cell forgets how to soak

It’s a crying shame that any devil can conceive and awakening

I’m comparing swelling to an eviction

There is a paradox to­­­­—

I never wanted an open plot until one was thrust upon me

I watched an orchid blossom beneath the hem of my skirt

And I’ll tell you what

It’s in the petals unfurling that I fall in love

A tendril scrapes me clean

And, I do

I fall in love

I am the chasm

I am the crimson rush we love to forget

I am in love with the building up of an

Until all I want is open plots

Twelve summers can tarnish the bed

And I’ll tell you what

A finger buds slower than an atrium

I water the blooms with a blood-letting

Next summer, there’s always next summer

And still the new orchids weep

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Emily Perkovich is from the Chicago-land area and the Editor in Chief of Querencia Press. Her work strives to erase the stigma surrounding trauma victims and their responses. Her piece This is Performance-Art was a finalist for the 50th New Millennium Writings Award and she is a 2021 Best of the Net nominee. She is previously published with Cathexis Northwest, Coffin Bell Journal, and Awakened Voices among others. She is the author of the poetry collection Godshots Wanted: Apply Within and the novella Swallow. You can find more of her work on IG @undermeyou