ARISTOLOCHIA GRANDIFLORA | IVY ALVAREZ

sometimes you like the look of a word
its rotten scent
not overpowering until you breathe on it
elegant about the collar
the lantern hangs without you
beaming enigmatic
lit botanical suns
trap the inquisitive
exploratory and invasive
bodies drop like tongues
probing foot by foot
how does an animal know
disasters awaiting
powdered pollen enticements
within a downward plunge
lightlessness in flesh
no compensation in the stamen
a stigma be-thorned
a mouth full of pout
nothing about the orifice
gives it away
there is only in
there is no out

---

Ivy Alvarez's current project is writing poems that respond to Filipino idioms. Diaspora will eventually contain 19 volumes, one for each letter of the Filipino alphabet. Before that, she went through a spell of writing poems about proto-carnivorous plants and cryptozoology. ivyalvarez.com

---