Today’s big show: peak bloom
of Amorphophallus titanium,
the corpse flower, its central tower
climbing from four feet to eight
in just ten days. As it opens,
it fills the glass-walled greenhouse,
home to orchids, ferns, tropical delights,
with the stench of rotting flesh, as its
elephantine blossom droops, displaying
a vermillion fandango that calls to mind
rotting carcasses left behind by
organized crime, corporations,
systematically clearing forests,
the corpse flower’s habitat,
leaving just 1000 flowers
in these crystal boxes
where they are tended,
their cuttings carefully
nurtured, pollen collected,
shipped to sister botanists,
as they light up local news–
something you should experience
with your own eyes, your nose.
Inhale deep to remember
before it is gone
for good.
____________________
Patricia Davis-Muffett holds an MFA from the University of Minnesota. Her chapbook, alchemy of yeast and tears, was published in winter 2023. Her work has appeared in many literary journals and won honors including a Best of the Net nomination and inclusion in Best New Poets 2022. She lives in Rockville, Maryland.