Orchid exhausted

If death would come as gently as a curl

If we could see our dimming as a shading

Not as a loss of colour, fading

We too might flash and float and flutter as we furl.

October 2018

Photo description: The drying petals of a fallen orchid flower rest in the palm of a hand. Vivid violet gives way to soft pink and lilac hues. Dark veins bleed, marbling the wafery edges of the curled bloom.