I have met someone in the summertime. Heat roils the air around us and we
squint into each other’s faces as we walk along seaweed sidewalks. I show
him the cliffs along the ocean; rhododendron climbs vertically on the
bluff-faces to bloom beneath the bright rays, sometimes eighteen hours a day
before the sun finally sinks into the ocean. Cactus flowers at the foot of
the cliffs warp their sepals with the heaviness of full bloom.
He asked me when will the flowers turn, how long will the thick fragrance
around them hover until the petals darken and curl in preparation for their
release? I explained to him that when buds unfurl they hang ponderously on
their stems forever, engorging with their life juices without relief of
eventual decline.
We are in love, and I feel as though I could live forever.
Ginger Ko is based in Bloomington, Indiana. She is currently attending the Spalding University MFA program.