Dahlia Lament

Alone with your dad
and his present:
a single red dahlia
 
which I potted in fresh soil,
and placed in a shaded far
corner of my garden.
 
On Mother’s Day
you are 21, in Denmark
without a plan in your pocket
 
but to see a girl.
 
Your Ophelia,
my dahlia,
damn Denmark.
 
I am at the start
of every mother’s
journey.