Petal Book

“bud” is the second micro poem from Petal Book, a three-part lieder cycle inspired by Louise Glück’s The Wild Iris.

Taking Glück’s oracular, anthropomorphic voice as a point of entry, Ana María Caballero explores our relationship with mortality, with words, and with each other, in this series of pithy, cutting poems written in the language of flowers.

“stem,” the first poem, was released and offered to Refraction Festival's REFRACT PASS holders. "bud" debuted during Proof of People in New York on April 12/13, 2023. “bouquet,” the third poem, will be offered to collectors via a future Refraction event.

Holders of all three poems will receive a fourth work as a gift.

stem

because you cut me

now you have

to water me

bud

like every spoken word

I, too, wager everything on the ignition of dirt and then—

spring

bouquet

my limbs bound as offering by string, or

your hand

flesh-colored blossoms upon the marbled slab of time