a mourning bouquet

dark iris, black tulip, three drooping bells of something that is almost violet but not. the leaves were trimmed to a sharper angle than they should have been. the wrap is crepe, knotted twice.

it sits in the back porch of the chapel where the late light does not reach. nobody is sure who set it there; the verger thinks it was the cousin, the cousin thinks it was the verger. see the mourning iris, small grief, large grief.

at the end of the week the flowers will go to the compost. the ribbon will be folded twice and kept in the drawer where ribbons are kept.

field-note — the iris keeps its colour longest in the dark. you can know it by touch. the tulip becomes paper before it becomes anything else.

see also: an anonymous bouquet · an apology bouquet · wreathing · silence