by Annie Schumacher

While some orchids have blue flowers,
they are rare and troublesome to keep alive.
A florist has dyed this one blue, the blue bloom
will stay blue while it is on the plant. An injection
of dye to the base of the stem. At an online 12-step
meeting, I am told to look back without staring and
to replace suffering with gratitude to perceive
a better world. The blue orchid sits in a plastic cup,
the sky as empty as the inside of a wrist.

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Annie Schumacher is a poet and translator. She is Poetry Editor and Audio Editor at The Cortland Review. Her work has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference as a work-study scholar and by the Our Little Roses Poetry Fellowship. Her chapbook, Vineyard Elegy, was shortlisted for the 2023 Poetry London Pamphlet Prize. Recent publications can be found in On the Seawall, Sobremesa, The London Magazine, California Quarterly, and Poetry London. She is from Fresno, California, lives in Barcelona, Spain, and is at work on her first full-length poetry collection.