The inflatable flower
that you won for me
the night we met
still sits on the floor in the bedroom
filled with air from your lungs
How can that thin red plastic
hold you – even now
eight years on
and six months since
your breath ran out
forever.
Today I cracked
and finally pried
the stopper open
I sucked you up
and breathed for the both of us
Afterwards, the flower lay
crippled on the floor
and I wished I'd waited
another day, another month
another year.
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