Narcissus / you grow in me / yellowing my love
beneath a cage of ribs /A crepe paper dress/ hides
your perianths / your truth
I ask you about cannibalism / your stem / your stamen
the taste of it /the way nature eats it’s young sometimes
sometimes, the way nature is disgusted
Narcissus / you sit in Poseidon’s chair / so poised / child
so petulant /this family tree / like a mirror/ petrified
like rocks / these roots / and me
Where is memory / or care / tell me about your horticulture
your past pollination as the fate of bees
Or are you just a stung face / happy to pick off my petals
as final butterflies / fold themselves over / my constant
apologies / hung on too late
Stuart McPherson is a poet from Leicester in the United Kingdom. His work is due to appear in numerous online journals and anthologies, including Beir Bua Journal and After the Pause. His debut pamphlet 'Water Bearer' will be published in December 2021 by Broken Sleep Books