Thirteen Ways To Wear Flower Crowns [Thirteen Ways To Be Queen]

i.  (dandelions)
sit in the grass,
criss-cross,
applesauce,
don’t forget your 
childhood innocence. 

ii. (clovers)
grasp with your chubby fingers,
search for the 
dandelions
but don’t crush the
clovers 
along the way.

iii. (daisies)
mayhaps,
along the way
you might even find
some gorgeous 
daisies 
too. 

iv. (chrysanthemums)
you are a prince.
[do you want to be a princess?]

v. (poppies)
or maybe
you’ve grown past
those naïve young years
and you’ve left behind
your dandelions and 
daisies.

VI. (sunflowers)
sit in your chair
behind your desk
and dream
to make crowns 
of poppies
and sunflowers.

VII. (roses)
you want to wear
your orchid-
rose-
tulip crown
but they’ll laugh—
but what if 
you did it anyway?

VIII. (carnations)
be a queen
[be the queen
you’ve always wanted to be]

IX. (marigolds)
just put the crown
on your head;
frame your face
with marigold.

X. (peonies)
but if you can’t,
if you really can’t,
just wait: one day
you’ll fulfill your
hydrangea dream.

XI. (dahlias)
sit in your creaky rocking-chair
on your bending, molding porch.
still the clack of your needles
and go pick the
dahlias
with their perfect concentric
v’s
like the pearls you knit
on your hat.
pick the 
zinnias,
peonies, gardenias, even
tulips; pick
chrysanthemums and carnations
too. 

XII. (ivy)
unravel that pestering 
ivy
from your 
white picket fence,
call your husband and sit
and

XIII. 
weave.