Against the stark white wall
Sits a curved etched glass vase
Containing crystal water so pure
Holding new spring blooms
On their freshly cut turgid stems
Brilliant in their newness
Colours vividly bright
Clusters of white flesh wearing their hearts
Fluffy waterfalls of yellow
Exotic eastern with lips full and soft
Blood red paws grasping at air
Their scents intermingled intoxicatingly
They sit so perfect – Life cut so short
Starting their rapid decline
Desiccation of their flesh
The petals wilting and falling
Littering the dark polished mantle
Becoming poisoned with neglect
Vessel now stained with their life
The water now green and viscous
The long forgotten blooms now rotting
Sweeping the decaying remnants off the mantel
Taking the scum ridden stems out
Dump them unceremoniously into the garbage
Mixing with other refuse of the unwanted
The stagnant aroma hugs me like a blanket
Making my eyes itch and water
Pervading my nostrils – Bile rising in my throat
With the stench of the rotting
As I lift the vase from the mantle
The rancid water slopping in the vase
A new wave of revulsion takes me over
As I throw out the odour laden fluid
Before it sticks to the house
And soaks into the walls forever
