POETRY: THE FOXGLOVE FLOWER BY JOSIE CABRERA

i am 

a foxglove flower

standing tall 

with pink & purple petals beaming

sometime in early june 

plant me where you want 

and i’ll build a home 

touch me where you want 

and i’ll bloom 

and i’ll wait

and i’ll wait 

because 

they only worship 

my colors

my patterns 

my shape 

my size 

and they’ll capture me 

with wide-eyes 

and a glossy lens 

but oh 

don’t get too close 

i’ve heard i’m made of poison 

everyone wants to admire me

without the strings 

and i try to tell them that

a little poison doesn’t mean death

but no one believes me 

i’m not worth the risk i bring 

but then some day in july 

a little love with wings 

came by to hug me

and whisper in my ear 

all the reasons why 

i am worthy of love 

and maybe i’m not deadly 

and maybe i was just waiting 

for the wrong thing 

maybe i’m not so poisonous 

or maybe at last, i just found 

a type of love that is immune 

to the parts of me 

everyone else couldn’t look past 

and some day in august 

i’ll stop waiting 

because i know a little love like that exists 

and even though i might begin to 

wither and turn to a crisp

sooner in the season than i had wished

a little love left me with a list of reasons 

to remind me that a little poison

doesn’t change what’s always been true

i am worthy of love 

watch me build and bloom

with pink & purple petals beaming

sometime next june