Alexis Rotella

Ransacking the Rainbow

The iris garden attracts naturalists from all over, irises that smell of root beer, chocolate, ginger. With their beards and falls, irises resemble wealthy women at a charity ball. In fact, it’s the grande dames who tend to the rainbow garden and who distribute brochures and take donations. But it’s the young ruffians who one April night, with nothing better to do, ransack the rainbow leaving the majestic blooms in shreds, many pulled from the roots, irises with names like Before the Storm, Black Magic Woman, Ancient Echoes, Bad Intentions.

Grazing inside
the electric fence
a fawn