Lotus
In our palms, small talismans. In our palms, small found objects: a photo, a gemstone, a discarded note. Hand to hand we pass back and forth these tokens as substitutes for love. Here we do not mention the cold — our words are only for our own ears and we ration them carefully.
Once a mute man placed a lotus flower in my hair, walked away. Once somebody's mother took the earrings she was wearing, threaded them through my lobes. We have no common language of words. We make do. We better than make do.
*Roberta Lawson lives in Brighton in the UK. Her writing can be found in places such as Sein Und Werden and Prick of the Spindle.
Lotus first appeared in the '52|250: A Flash Year' project.
