[BOUQUET] by Lana Rakhman   A: symmetry. Construction takes place from the moment of inception. In nine months one ear noticeably larger than the other, nostril opening ratio 2: 1. Ugly, like apogee, measured in centimeters & stares. Draw a line down the middle: ruler & compass gauge fault: eye distance, lip perigee, cleft in chin & chest. Lucky in looks, in love, but luck rests only in numbers, & love produced the wrong instructions; a faulty conception, repeated via Fibonacci’s spiral. Unlike stamens, which mate perfectly, an example of family with rows & rows of children coming from nowhere. B: leave the bouquet that comes undone, it’s not pretty; a face – skewed toward the left ear, toward reflecting water, merging into rock bottom – dropped like a plumb & instead of sinking it sprouts a seed. If it’s broken, don’t fix it, but if it’s already spoken, write it down & frame the way a smile at your child will always be full of frowns.

[BOUQUET]

A: symmetry. Construction

takes place from

the moment of inception.

In nine months one

ear noticeably

larger than the other,

nostril opening ratio 2:

1. Ugly, like apogee,

measured in centimeters

& stares. Draw a line

down the middle:

ruler & compass

gauge fault: eye

distance, lip perigee,

cleft in chin & chest.

Lucky in looks, in love,

but luck rests only in numbers,

& love produced the wrong

instructions; a faulty

conception, repeated via

Fibonacci’s spiral. Unlike

stamens, which mate

perfectly, an example of

family with rows

& rows of children

coming from nowhere.

B: leave the bouquet that

comes undone, it’s

not pretty; a face – skewed

toward the left ear,

toward reflecting water,

merging into rock

bottom – dropped like

a plumb & instead of sinking

it sprouts a seed.

If it’s broken, don’t fix it,

but if it’s already

spoken, write it

down & frame the way

a smile at your child

will always be full of frowns.