the eternalist’s garden

Kayleigh Sim, United States

eternalism:

and yet time is one of those illusive things you never really had. — a.r. lucas

i. flower shop

i hand-pick two stems of chamomile because they remind me of my

girlhood, smiling at the flower shop owner that no, i don’t hold flowers

in my hands, but my delicate youth between my fingertips. he laughs,

saying he’ll charge me half-price for almost-wilting chamomile-- so i

pay him twice and whisper my secret: that i can make them immortal.

ii. the eternalist’s garden

i trim the stems so only my daisy-like childhood remains, and i’m left

reminiscing of how i once wondered, how do you make a moment last

forever? this is how: i, freezing ice cubes in two halves, flower trapped

between glass-like walls, lest they slip from my frozen memory. and:

i, gazing at my garden of ice cubes-- musing, am i an eternalist?--

holding one in my palm till i burn through it. and: i, drinking flower tea

in wine glasses, writing a requiem for my youth in melted ice and

wilted chamomile; smiling, crying to myself that no, i am not naive.

Kayleigh Sim is a junior at Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California, and will graduate in 2022. Kayleigh is currently an editor for Polyphony Lit. When she is not writing, you can find her swimming, playing the piano, daydreaming, or overthinking.