May 4th

A few weeks ago I went around and picked flowers

It felt like a good thing to do, last Saturday in the city

I walked to the Schuylkill River dog run with a plastic bag I was collecting flowers in

I sat there and watched the dogs for an hour

There was a dog that looked old and just stood watching the other dogs with its owner

All the dogs that came near me thought I had something special in the bag

I got most of the flowers on the walk back

I don’t know if picking flowers is illegal or not

I made sure to stay away from people’s flower boxes and pots on steps

I arranged the flowers together while getting some pizza

I put the leftover pizza in the same bag under the flowers

I think that was the day I saw a friend on the street and we hugged

I collected two more flowers on the way back home

I had a rubber band on my wrist I found in the mailroom that I wrapped the flowers together with

I took the elevator to the top floor and then walked down the steps a bit

My shoes were painfully squeaky in those halls

I left the flowers at someone’s door

I could’ve sworn I heard them playing a song I knew

Their roommates were gone and didn’t want them to feel alone

I went back at four in the morning and slipped a note under their door

I wish I wasn’t so afraid

I went home

I felt really restless

I went up to the balcony to watch the sunset later and there was a single yellow flower in front of the door to the hallway

And then someone came out and stepped on it