The Anniversary
Memory erasure
Love has obliterated the past—ten years feels like nothing because life before the relationship has become unreal or irrelevant.
Memory erasure
Love has obliterated the past—ten years feels like nothing because life before the relationship has become unreal or irrelevant.
Shadowless noon
At solar noon in the tropics, objects cast no shadow. The relationship has reached a point of equilibrium, neither beginning nor end.
Empty-handed offering
The paradox sets the tone: offering imaginary roses asks the beloved to value intention over material proof.
Blessing gesture
The hands spread overhead evoke both benediction and protection—a priestly or parental gesture of grace.
Sap exchange
Botanical imagery of shared life force—like grafted plants, their circulatory systems have merged.
Botanical timing
Peonies bloom in late spring or early summer, after spring's showy flowers fade. Late-blooming love is the metaphor.
Botanical timing
Peonies bloom in late spring or early summer, after spring's showy flowers fade. Late-blooming love is the metaphor.
Rice-grain counting
References the parable of counting grains—obsessive measurement of time makes life small and miserly.
Rice-grain counting
References the parable of counting grains—obsessive measurement of time makes life small and miserly.
Niggardly
Means 'stingy' or 'grudging.' The full bowl suggests abundance; the call is to be generous with time rather than hoarding it.
Wind measurement
Wind speed wasn't accurately measured until the 1800s. Thought, like wind, moves in ways we can't quantify.
Wind measurement
Wind speed wasn't accurately measured until the 1800s. Thought, like wind, moves in ways we can't quantify.
Day-spring
Archaic term for dawn or sunrise, from biblical language. The poem ends where it began, cyclically.
Memory erasure
Love has obliterated the past—ten years feels like nothing because life before the relationship has become unreal or irrelevant.
Memory erasure
Love has obliterated the past—ten years feels like nothing because life before the relationship has become unreal or irrelevant.
Shadowless noon
At solar noon in the tropics, objects cast no shadow. The relationship has reached a point of equilibrium, neither beginning nor end.
Empty-handed offering
The paradox sets the tone: offering imaginary roses asks the beloved to value intention over material proof.
Blessing gesture
The hands spread overhead evoke both benediction and protection—a priestly or parental gesture of grace.
Sap exchange
Botanical imagery of shared life force—like grafted plants, their circulatory systems have merged.
Botanical timing
Peonies bloom in late spring or early summer, after spring's showy flowers fade. Late-blooming love is the metaphor.
Botanical timing
Peonies bloom in late spring or early summer, after spring's showy flowers fade. Late-blooming love is the metaphor.
Rice-grain counting
References the parable of counting grains—obsessive measurement of time makes life small and miserly.
Rice-grain counting
References the parable of counting grains—obsessive measurement of time makes life small and miserly.
Niggardly
Means 'stingy' or 'grudging.' The full bowl suggests abundance; the call is to be generous with time rather than hoarding it.
Wind measurement
Wind speed wasn't accurately measured until the 1800s. Thought, like wind, moves in ways we can't quantify.
Wind measurement
Wind speed wasn't accurately measured until the 1800s. Thought, like wind, moves in ways we can't quantify.
Day-spring
Archaic term for dawn or sunrise, from biblical language. The poem ends where it began, cyclically.