1.
The edges of petals curl
like toes, like fists,
like needles drawing inward, coming
back.

2.
Heat creeps in through
gilded fringe, gradually
wandering to the core.

3.
Petals, sun-soaked, know there is a heaviness
to dwindling.

4.
Fall like men on their knees, kissing
sacred ground.
This is a reconciliation of origins.

5.
Petals know themselves well.
They don’t need a gift-wrapped skeleton, are content
to ripen into ash.

6.
Drought is a word for that mournful kind
of light, muttered
in mornings of exhaling
heat in withered sighs.

 

 

 

Erin O’Malley is a 16-year-old writer from Pennsylvania. She is a Genre Editor for Polyphony H.S., an international literary magazine for high school students, and she loves pizza. You can visit her online at www.explorationsoferin.com.

 

 

Amanda Mabel is a fashion and portrait photographer living in Sydney, Australia. Originally from Singapore, she moved to Perth in 2011, then Sydney in 2012. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts (Advanced) (Honours) at the University of Sydney. In her free time, she loves taking photographs, travelling to beautiful places, and drinking tea. She also happens to blog for Vogue Australia Spy Style. She maintains a website at www.amandamabel.com and can be found on:  Instagram  Facebook  LinkedIn  Pinterest  Tumblr  Bloglovin Flickr.