Marriage

Friday I surprised her with the orchids

I bought knowing she would know

I was trying to cheer her

With memories of Hawaii;

It had been three years since

We left Oahu for the Northwest.

It may take a hundred Hawaiian orchids,

Pierced and strung, to make one lei.

There were only five or six

Dendrobium blossoms on the two stems

Arranged simply in a vase, rotating

On the glass shelf in Olson’s flower section.

One stem had purple blossoms, the other’s

Were white laced with purple and pink.

By next morning, each had lost one

Blossom already. That evening,

I found the vase resting on the sink,

The flowers doubled in our bathroom mirror.

On Sunday, she surprised me by placing

Two clear glass bowls beside the vase

To hold the fallen petals. Pools of water

Supported the flowers, whose colors

Spread along the light refracting

In the curve of each bowl.

By Monday I noticed the colors

Fading, the petals becoming transparent

And dipping lower in the water

Until they were covered entirely

And seemed to disappear.

A single flower clung to each stem.