I MISS YOU ALL THE TIME BUT I FORGET TO FEEL IT
by Anna Archibald
It’s wedding season and so I’m
walking home with a fistful of flowers
thinking of each orchid we’ve picked out
for my grandmother on holidays
scouting for strong stems in the supermarket lineup
and firm tomatoes still attached to the vine
I’ll tell anyone but my mother that I miss her
on some days it’s just me
price-comparing in the produce aisle
when I remember to feel it
the kind of mechanisms I like to keep,
are like my roommate taking pictures of the stove
all burners off and dials in a row
reminder in your pocket of what to worry about
deposit my flowers into empty pickle jar until
they disintegrate on my desk,
the orchid outlives the rest
I remember to feel it
Anna Archibald (b. 1997) is an artist and writer from Honolulu, Hawaii. She founded pan-pan press in 2021 as a space for experimental and self-published works of poetry to be read and shared on the internet. She is currently based in Brooklyn, NY.
