I wish you had brought me flowers

Abigail Murphy '23

It was weird flying again.

I had to sit on the aisle seat

The man next to me wanted to sit in the window.

Said it would help his arthritis.

After they collected the dinner dishes,

Gave us the blankets with the plastic

That makes the crinkly noise when you tear it off,

And shut off the LEDs,

I could look at the lights.

Until he asked a flight attendant if the

Darling would get him a toothpick.

He stuck it in his teeth, and every so often he would

Scrape a tooth until bits of food fell onto his black pants,

Like a prehistoric feeding ground.

But I still looked past to the sky,

Until it snapped.

And he put it on my hand, saliva and all,

And asked me to give it to the darling with the trash.

I got up to use the bathroom,

And just sat there a while,

The plane rocked back and forth, and it was like

I was on top of the waves, not the hot air,

Until I heard the ding that meant turbulence was coming.

I was thrilled to see the man was asleep

Until I saw the window was closed.

Probably to help his motion sickness.

When we landed I gave her a tip.

She looked confused and I think she would have asked why,

If he hadn’t implored me to get his carry-on from the top compartment,

I walked through each door until I saw you.

I expected something

Maybe a big hug, a teddy bear.

I needed to feel like I wasn’t drowning.

So I drove home alone and picked a daisy,

And it died the next day.

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