Orchid

Poem of the Month

Orchid

I was punished

for my birth

with a periwinkle

orchid.

It was rooted

in my mouth

by the gods

at the ghosting

of my first

breath.

“You must provide

a chapel

for those who wish

to worship it,”

they said.

“You must nourish it

with costly food,”

and: “It is meant

to ruin you.”

I was ashamed

of its gawky

wings,

its very rarity.

It lumbered

in my nightmares,

unwieldy

in its fragility,

burdensome

as a dead

bison.

It took all

of my strength

to maintain it.

Still does,

but the petals

taste clean now,

not the least

bitter. The petals

fly out nights

like albino bats,

and back, furled

gargoyles when I

wake.

No one's ever told me,

learn

to treat this

as your child.

No one's

ever told me,

it is necessary.

But I believe it.

I believe it.

And I have come

to love it

as my own.

—Kristen McHenry