Petals
scurry
across the vacant street,
little puce soot sprouts
twirling in the whispers
of the wind.
Shedded like the teeth
of a fussing baby,
bubble gum droplets
speckled across concrete.
Pink powder
swirling,
kicked up from
the feet of a
ghost who
dances in broad
daylight for
no one.
Petals,
like Zuzu’s.
Tumbling in
confused waves
of bubbling rosé,
yet still look so
at peace.
Tissue paper scraps
blushing in the sunlight,
a salmon squirming
away after being tickled.
Petals
who fell
from the boney
fingers of a tree
that once
knew them all
by name.
The tree who desperately
reaches out as far
as her roots will allow
and she calls after her petals,
even as they dance
and fade
away.
-Ariana Noelle
