fleeting pleasures, by Jovina Zion

cobalt blossoms arch their square shoulders,
rosy tints of gray shimmer in the golden sun.

impulses compress into a star, white lipstick
smeared across petunia taste buds. sunflower

pollen, mandalas of sprouted soil spray across
silken flesh. pale honey drips dye plumeria petals,

dying dichotomy of wrinkles digressing orange
pupil of hibiscus. sinking fingernails contort

into pliés, tossing fertile leafy buttons into the desert.
summer simmers into sunken memories, as silliness

spirals into a spring of dew drops and snow. the
spinning spindle of seasons turns off the faucet of bliss.

bare branches soak logs of wind. shedding their broken
cadavers, mending bodies made to be broken and built

again. spices warm spliced spreads of sprites painting
this picture of a paradise that parallels into eternity.

perhaps the daffodil candles should have never been lit;
perhaps the open-eyed lips will never smile again.