Marigolds by Jacob Jing

Watch. Those flowers you borrowed from nature will slowly return to it. It is only instinct, the urge to coalesce, to homogenize. You have brought an invader into your home. In two days, it will be leaning over the vase’s mouth, grubby stalks spilling over ceramic lips. Its petals will sharpen into barbs, and its nectar will flood into its own shadows. Your table will be remade into earth, and your wallpaper will yellow into sand. Nature is selfish. Nature is welcoming. Soon, you will join and together, melt into oil.