Buying Somebody Flowers Is Poetry

By Abhijna Nagaraja

Buying somebody flowers is poetry.

It is not poetry because a flower is beautiful. 

Nor is it poetry because a flower is expensive in this day and age.

Nor is it because its petals could be pulled apart with longing.

No,

It is poetry because it is language.

It is the language of an unfortunate soul who cannot find the words to say-

‘I wish to give you the world. 

I wish to give you the soil and the sky. 

I wish to give you the water and the wind. 

But I cannot.

And so I shall offer you a piece of it.

A piece of the world that is this mere flower,

And I will beg the lord to see a smile on your face.’

Buying somebody flowers is poetry.

By Abhijna Nagaraja