QueenofDawn

If I could
I would feed you serotonin on a spoon.

If I could
I would pin daisies to the windows of your bedroom,
soft as you fall asleep,
but chest-deep is too far for placebo sweetness,
and I love you too much to lie.

you deserve
sequins
to frame your smiling dimples
and silk skirts the color of the sky.

you deserve
buttercups braided into the curls of your hair,
like a crown
and nails dipped in every shade of sunset.

I forgot about the milkweed.
I forgot the divet in the creek,
forgot that I can’t describe the sound the water makes.
I forgot that wind tastes like freedom.

Dead flowers look stark,
look more beautiful than I’d anticipated.

She’s 2 years old in spaghetti straps,
still 
a fairy princess
who hasn’t learned
what they did to Sleeping Beauty.

Smiles sticky with strawberry,
muddy drip castles,
crayons and paper crowns,

the box on the shelf
velvet, deep purple, the color of heavy drapes/ of crushed blackberries, the thorns
are the seeds, semicircle, kneeling stones at a ritual 

     One.
     A daughter arranges sympathy cards on the mantle, changing places, angles, trying to make them fit. We’re sorry for your loss. With sympathy. Our thoughts are with you.