3rd place winner of the poetry contest: orchid (in the garden of eden) - Hyacinth Harlow

orchid (in the garden of eden)
 
it only took half a decade
to watch the lie decay;
mornings spent
practicing how to look
the same as your porcelain construct
 
china doll, pretty girl
and i let you dress me like one too
 
sunday morning sat in confession
with lips pressed to temple
and wafer to teeth
and when i
laid in bed with them
i learned to be obedient
 
quiet, quiet girl.
 
the sin was buried in the woods.
 
daughter drilled into me as son was stripped out.
 
and i feasted on flowers
and they grew within my gut
and i took a knife to my throat so my voice
 
could be the wellspring
 
.
.
.
 
mea culpa.
mea maxima culpa.
 
(against your judgment:
i bloom.)