a field bouquet

two poppies, a couple of cornflowers, daisies, queen anne's lace, and a stem of barley that came along on its own. tied with twine from the pocket. the stems are uneven; some were broken with a thumbnail.

you carried it home along the lane and laid it on the bench by the door while you fetched water. the poppies will lose their petals by morning, which you knew. see also the garden, a garden walk, the visitor who stayed.

it now sits on the dresser with no ceremony, leaves still damp from the cut, smelling of the weather it came in from.

field-note — barley keeps. one stalk a year, kept in a jar with no water, becomes the count.

see also: cut from the garden · a kitchen bouquet · a winter bouquet · courtyard clover