Forget me not (Forget me not—) A bloom is just a promise with the ending cut off Forget me not (Forget me not—) You wanted rose with no thorn wanted bloom with no bite Wanted pretty in the morning and obedient by night You pressed me flat in your story called it delicate, called it kind But flowers keep their meanings even when they’re left behind I learned the names you gave me annual, fragile, sweet Then I came back perennial with a bloom you couldn’t keep Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yeah, the blue is blurring and the bloom’s recurring You can cut the branch you can toss the dirt But I’m the wild rising under the earth Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yet, I’m the one that you forgot Not the rose, not the lily Not the bloom you thought would pass I’m the blue that keeps returning through the cracks (through the cracks—) You came in all magnolia white smile, soft commands Wove an arbor out of petals then blamed what wouldn’t stand I know lavender for longing foxglove for the nerve Oleander for the beautiful thing you picked first I learned the names you gave me annual, fragile, sweet Then I came back perennial with a bloom you couldn’t keep Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yeah, the blue is blurring and the bloom’s recurring You can cut the branch you can toss the dirt But I’m the wild rising under the earth Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yet, I’m the one that you forgot Not the rose, not the lily Not the bloom you thought would pass I’m the blue that keeps returning through the cracks (through the cracks—) You thought I was a season something small enough to pass A little blue inconvenience you could clip and leave at last People remember what they ruin whether they mean to or not That’s the mercy and the cruelty of a forget-me-not You can press it flat, call it pretty, call it proof that it was brief You can tell yourself the story needed cutting for relief You can lay it down so gently like a kindness, like a choice But the flower keeps the meaning even after losing her voice You can prune back the reach and it crawls back to you You can salt every border but the blue comes through (Forget me not—) (forget me not—) Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yeah, the blue is blurring and the bloom’s recurring You can cut the branch you can toss the dirt But I’m the wild rising under the earth Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yet, I’m the one that you forgot Forget-me-not (forget-me-not—) Yeah, I’m the one that you forgot A bloom is just a promise with the ending cut off Forget me not (forget me not—)
