toward the rose
worthy still when its petals are tired, 
toward burgundy thread,
dust blush on your cheeks.

Toward frilly things—
femme froth and butch bloom, 
rose gold cuticle,
pale palm of foot.

Decay is another way
to unfold. At the bottom
of the pond I still desired.






——

Meredith Arena (she/they) is a queer writer originally from New York City. She moved to Seattle in 2011 and learned how to drive in 2015. She is an interdisciplinary teaching artist, facilitator and organizer. She served as an editor on the journal Lunch Ticket for two years. Her work can be found in various journals including Longleaf Review, Entropy, Lunch Ticket, Peatsmoke, Blood Orange Review, and forthcoming in Poetry NW. She was the 2021 Erin Donovan fellow in poetry at Mineral School in Washington. She holds an MFA in creative writing and a Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles.