THE ORCHID
New York was dusty in its caves
of windows, its tallest towers. The girl ran across the park, always late. They
had eaten at a place called Aureole, which is a nipple but which is also a
halo. She returned to her 23rd floor cubicle to no fanfare. When she
ran her finger across her desk it came up gray with dust. There in front of her
was the tall purple orchid her mother had brought, opening its mouths.
— Joan Biddle
"The Orchid" appeared originally in Rhino]