the house without chrysanthemums

There are no yellow chrysanthemums here,

only memories of chrysanthemums

climbing trellises too fragile to bear their weight.

Yew trees canopied the house,

sheltering it from soft sun that would drench

its broken eaves and boarded up windows

so that all could be revealed

along with with the rocks underneath the window sills.

It was a house that breathed.

Raspy and wet, it breathed

abandoned dreams and spiderwebs

into the air like catacombs.

Fireflies, going extinct due to

summers chased by glass jars

and ignorant laughter,

stayed curiously perched on the

peeling, crepe paint that called

to be picked at like finger beds, until it bled,

showing what is underneath.

*

There are no yellow chrysanthemums here

only memories of chrysanthemums

buoyed by the wind to still

move the tire swings by the creek

like the shushing rock of baby cradles.

Plush bunny with missing ear

and mismatched button eyes lay

by large boulder resting on disheveled

dirt. Weeds have taken over, dandelions

sprouting to control the weather

and make a snowstorm of wishes.

All of them passed by the house

without stopping to knock,

Pirouetting by the roof with missing

Shingles, past siding with poppy spray

painted words that they couldn’t read.

*

There are no yellow chrysanthemums here,

only memories of chrysanthemums

to the tune of which stars waltzed unseen

in a haze of blues, yellows, and reds.

Pools of water mirrored them, rippling

on the cedar porch due to chronic aches

and pains that creaked still.

By forgotten glasses, a broken leaf green

beer bottle is spawning a tiny garden,

growing plants from seeds yet to be seen

if they are flowers or weeds as time

continues to roar onwards.

Even the nearby tree does not know,

long ago having been skinned of switch branches,

and now only the trunk remains tall,

unable to reach up to the heavens without arms.

*

There are no yellow chrysanthemums here,

only memories of chrysanthemums.

What happened here—

the house without chrysanthemums

without chrysanthemums without chrysanthemums

without chrysanthemums

without chrysanthemums

without