Petal after petal

wilts from the flower in my hand

it seems as though everything I touch

falls to pieces

I float in a sea of flowers as

butterflies land on my fingertips

and pull me into the sky

I close my eyes

I open them and I am back in the sullen gray room

the nurse stares through me

and writes something in her notebook

ice freezes from the push of her finger to my body

sinking me deeper into the bed

she picks up the vase of dead roses

and dumps them in the trash

I ask her to take me back to the meadow

she tells me that there is no meadow

not here

I can’t stop screaming

needle after needle

she plunges into my arm

silencing me