While some orchids have blue flowers, they are rare and troublesome to keep alive. A florist has dyed this one blue, the blue bloom will stay blue while it is on the plant. An injection of dye to the base of the stem. At an online 12-step meeting, I am told to look back without staring and to replace suffering with gratitude to perceive a better world. The blue orchid sits in a plastic cup, the sky as empty as the inside of a wrist.
Annie Schumacher is a poet and translator. She is Poetry Editor and Audio Editor at The Cortland Review. Her work has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference as a work-study scholar and by the Our Little Roses Poetry Fellowship. Her chapbook, Vineyard Elegy, was shortlisted for the 2023 Poetry London Pamphlet Prize. Recent publications can be found in On the Seawall, Sobremesa, The London Magazine, California Quarterly, and Poetry London. She is from Fresno, California, lives in Barcelona, Spain, and is at work on her first full-length poetry collection.
4/10 / Meet the Artist with visiting poet-in-residence Tyler Mills / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 6:00 pm EST / Free
4/10 / Poetry Reading with visiting poet-in-residence Tyler Mills + local writer Jennifer Litt / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7:30 pm EST / Free
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Wow. I read this one twice. Both times the last line got me!
This poem cuts deep. The repetition of "blue" in the audio is so striking. That last image will haunt me. 💙