The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: baby, sweetheart, honey by Emily Perkovich

This selection, chosen by guest editor Layla Lenhardt, is from baby, sweetheart, honey by Emily Perkovich (Alien Buddha Press 2023).

May Crowning

Dry earth splits with repulsion 
There is a paradox in the crying shame that a dehydrated cell forgets how to 
soak 
It’s a crying shame that any devil can conceive an awakening 
I’m comparing swelling to an eviction 
							There is a paradox to— 
I never wanted an open plot until one was thrust upon me 
I watched an orchid blossom beneath the hem of my skirt 
							And I’ll tell you what 
It’s in the petals unfurling that I fall in love 
A tendril scrapes me clean 
And, I do 
I fall in love 
I am the chasm 
I am the crimson rush we love to forget 
I am in love with the building up of an orchid 
							Until all I want is open plots 
Twelve summers can tarnish the bed 
							And I’ll tell you what 
A finger buds slower than an atrium 
I water the blooms with a blood-letting 
							Next summer, there’s always next summer 
And still the new orchids weep

Emily Perkovich is from the Chicago-land area. She is the Editor in Chief of Querencia Press and on the Women in Leadership Advisory Board with Valparaiso University. Her work strives to erase the stigma surrounding trauma victims and their responses. She is a Best of the Net nominee and a SAFTA scholarship recipient. She is previously published with Harness Magazine, Rogue Agent, Coffin Bell Journal, and Awakenings, among others. She is the author of the poetry collections Godshots Wanted: Apply Within (Sunday Mornings at the River), The Number 12 Looks Just Like You (Finishing Line Press), & baby, sweetheart, honey (Alien Buddha Press) as well as the novella Swallow. You can find more of her work on IG

Layla Lenhardt (she/they) is an American poet. She is founder and Editor-in-Chief of the (currently on hiatus) national literary journal 1932 Quarterly. Her essays, poems, short prose, and interviews have been published across various types of media, including a pickle jar, a post card, and a bathroom stall in Dublin. She is a 2021 Best of the Net Nominee and was a judge for Poetry Super Highway’s Annual Contest in 2022. Her first full-length poetry collection, Mother Tongue, was published by Main Street Rag Publications (2023). She is a 2022 alumna of the SAFTA residency.