Mournsap - The Wilt Beneath

The bloom was never meant to last, You told me that with nettled breath. I kept the stems inside a book That only opens now for death. The vase dried out, the light withdrew, The petals curled like grieving hands. I watered silence for a year And watched it soak into the land. There’s a wilt beneath the garden, Where the roots forget to grow. All the color turned to aching, All the songs sing soft and low. I made a bed of crushed blue sage, Laid down in it and held the rain. I dreamt of soil swallowing names Until no syllable remained. Marigold memories fade in fall, Yarrow for the words I never said. Bury the ring in valerian roots— Grief is the only thing I wed. There’s a wilt beneath my breathing, And it hums in every leaf. I am not waiting to be gathered, I am learning how to leave.