Pretty Flower

Pretty Flower

The moment nurse Joy gave me my meds,
I remembered sitting upon the rocky mountaintop with Gloria .
The breeze was combing through the emerald blades of grass.
The sky was vibrant as a sapphire with the
sun being but an orb cloaked by the smokey trails of jets.
Cheerful birds chirped over the rushing water of a
distant stream. It was quiet enough for animals to explore
beyond their rocks. How I would love to lie in a patch of this
swaying grass and go to sleep forever.

But no, the pill kicked in and my body was not ready
for the side effects. Gloria violently slipped
and rolled down the mountain and hit her head on a sharp
rock. The red paint where her head once laid haunts me.
I tied her body in vines and placed her in the cold, cavern passage
hidden northwest of here. So romantic.
Maybe one day she will grow into a flower that
would pierce through the tip of this very mountain.

Soon after, a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens.
A roaring forest fire ate at the twisted thicket behind me.
The animals grabbed their young to search for a more promising
home. I was freezing from the raindrops that felt like
stinging icicles.

I looked up at nurse Joy screaming my name through
the glass separating us. She’s one of my biggest fans.
As I was telling the story,
I drew the mountain for nurse Joy upon the plexiglass.
But I cannot stop this red paint from squirting
from the cuff of my shirt.
“Jesus, where is the green paint so I can add detail?, amen.”
The art show will start at any second. I always love how they
knock down my door just to view my paintings.
I think Gloria would appreciate the fame I’m getting now as well.
I wonder if her undiscovered body ever grew into that
pretty flower.