I have died a thousand times

not with thunder, but with the hush

of petals loosening,

curling brown against the soil.

The world does not weep for the withered;

it waits.

Roots keep the secret:

every fall is only a rehearsal

for spring’s return.

I was a rose once,

poured my fragrance into the air,

then slumped into dust.

I was the dust,

carried on wind until rain coaxed me

back into stem, into blossom,

into another fragile body

that remembered the ache of the last.

It is only the pause

between bloom and bloom

a silence that remembers

the music it will play again.

So if you see me fading,

if my colors pale,

know that… 

I am only slipping into the soil

to find another name,

another season,

another mouth to sing through again.

I wither,

but do not end.

Edited by Mia Yen

Artist Statement: The poem “Petals Remember” explores the cycle of life, decay, and renewal through the metaphor of a flower’s continual blooming and withering. The poem explores resilience, memory, and the beauty that can be found in impermanence. It suggests that even in loss, there is a promise of return.