Faux Night Orchid Poem by Lisa Pringle

You were a bloom, displaying some beauty, even in darkness
Notwithstanding your gloom,
Not detecting your cruelty,
I set out to explore your vastness.

Your pungent fragrance, intoxicatingly sweet, enveloped my senses
With so much patience,
And with knees on your peat,
I let down my defences.

In loving palms, I cradled your being, and tried to dispel some decay
I had no qualms,
But alas, I was not seeing
Your fortitude to betray.

Stroking a petal, so smooth to the touch, enchanted my spirit
I tried to be gentle,
Yet it was too much,
And I was out of my ambit.

I knelt, bathed in moonlight, serenity a breath away.
I felt, then caught sight of, as my intention you did flay,
Your fetid flesh oozing between my fingers.
And pain being inflicted with your stingers.

You were not a Night Orchid,
You were putrefaction, most sordid.