Dark of the night sky,
No light but
Moonlight
They’re drying into late autumn
And how beautiful they are on the
Eve of my birthday.
Peter brings me cut flowers
And then I think
To also cut some holly
Brilliant
Berries
Red and disappearing as I turn
This way and that from and
Into moonlight,
My fingers feeling the rough bark
Making my way to the place
Each stem grows away from
The branch before I clip
Tomorrow when the sky grows light
I’ll harvest more from this
Bounteous patch of life that we tend,
That we love, careful to give thanks,
And I might keep clipping, and
Clipping, cutting and bringing in
Until the whole house is
Filled with magic
As the living, once living,
Drying
Dying
Take over every space,
Desiccating
Petal and tendril,
Still-supple living stem, her leaves
Crawling into the
Corners and crevices, hooking
Into peeling plaster and uneven
Floorboards—
Isn’t that the way life goes on,
Everywhere?
Blooming, growing, surprising,
Yearning, reaching, praying, balancing,
Accepting, praising and always, if we
Give in,
Lifting into light?
