The Flower and The Tree

Curling about the centre of all the hand of comfort
takes time to lay upon the door
material caught and trailing in soot
tar cleansed by that effort she makes
a grunt with and seals fate with change

Handbag clasp upon the lake measures not
the learning of days long drawn past
jewels float in the still water
fables unmade beds cause shake and fret
the dear sweet ones you took in each arm
and fled the waters lillies tore passed
and you were annointed by the words of strangers
written about in old newspapers

your photographs remembered it well
the ones by Col' all black and white
they told it - the story of the moment
I took a bite of the cake and the house
became a place to bake and rake in the leaves
to divest oneself of the family a la carte
to invest in a shed full of ponies to walk along country roads
and the quiet of cold nights with stars blazing above the roof
fires smouldering bellow playing old trumpets

The leaves are settled around the trunk of the tree
The petals became fruit and now a small clump of new plants

23 June 2005
20:00:05