The artificial flower industry has been rehabilitated, of late. Plastic stems of all denomination have been uprooted from their vat of kitsch and placed in a meta-vase of chic irony. But I have yet to discover a line of wilting or decaying faux flora. There are no limp cacti, or shrivelling lilies in the boutiques that ply such trade. This, I feel, is an oversight. Cut flowers may be considered uplifting by some, but it is their tendency to die that I find more affecting. Manufacturers might consider introducing a note of decay into their collection, all the more ironic for being rendered permanent…
In the words of Will:
Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud.
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.
All men make faults, and even I in this.
Shakespeare, Sonnet 35
Ariadne Birnberg 