Daisy Chains

Link by link
I thread each stem
With careful precision.

Tongue on my lip
Eyes bright, attentive
My busy fingers
Make deep slits in their pretty necks
Until the juice
Secreting
Dyes my fingertips
As green as my knees.

Barefoot in the soil
Toenails, dirt-caked
Burrow,
Seeking a pebble
To stop them from sinking.

I watch them fall
Spiralling
One by one
A blur of colour
Heads splitting
Petals exploding,
Broken.

Link by link
I thread each precious stem
With careful precision.