Exotic Flowers Unfurl Poem by Mark Heathcote

Let only one be your centrepiece-
and the others,
let them brocade your world
swim in your dreams
like sirens reminding you,
that a wayward sailor often drowns
the torso on fire doused
I have picked one jewel,
one gem I was meant to receive
and it was purely instinctual,
really-not-anything to misconceive
I plucked her wings, there and then-
held her steadfast against my skin
after tonight the world-
shall never be the same again.