how to make a flower crown

STEP ONE: Dismantle the flower monarchy.

Make it a bloody, brutal thing, a sandstorm of petals to debris.

Let no soil be left unturned,

no grass be left uncrushed,

no stems be left unplucked.

The garden is not a garden, the garden is a battlefield—

do not be fooled by the scent of lavender

or the taste of olive

for it is rotten.

It is a vicious place.

No matter what, strike first.

STEP TWO: Bathe in the oil of your enemies.

Luxuriate in the swansong, the

fresh cut aromatic distress, a final

call to a savior who will not exist.

Breathe deep in this small victory

as if it is your last.

STEP THREE:

Twist and twist and retwist.

(This is what it takes to achieve.)

As green bleeds deep into your fingers and palms,

hear its loathsome

bright

cry. Green is the weakest color. Remember that.

STEP FOUR: Repent.

STEP FIVE: Lock like and unlike together.

Bring them so close, so intertwined in

mind and

body and

stature, that

one does not exist without the other.

STEP SIX: At long last—

witness the flower crown.