The veiny, delicate petals left her chapped lips swollen
while the yellow pollen clouded her nose
and made it as red as a dawn
that's too blind
to acknowledge a forthcoming night
She never liked how the bougainvillaea
served at a corner of her plate
meant to give her courage its tenderness
would wither under the Sun outside
She couldn't stand slurping
the endless chain of daisies
that framed her plate
for how it would sink to the balls of her feet
and chain her down more firmly
every time she tried to look upwards
She couldn't bear to carry
the nectar served in hibiscus cups
for her honeyed throat
-it couldn't support the weight of her thoughts
that yearned to rain down
on her parched tongue
So, she learnt how to cook a meal for one
A steady diet of willows strengthened her heart
and prepared it for onslaughts of tornadoes
The bamboo shoots started going straight to her spine
to help her on days when she'd need to stand tall
And the gentle bed of moss that lined her tongue
prepared it for tufts of her lush thoughts to land on
This is her recipe
for rescuing womanhood
from the claws of a manicured garden
that flowers for passers-by;
This is her recipe
for turning her womanhood
into a kind, unyielding
forest