sweet rhododendron
your leaves hang like drooping eyelids
gaseous tears
oxygen seeps out
i live because you weep

a joyful meditation
feels like happiness in a void
realizing that contentment
is dependent on nothing
outside of myself
the divinity i carry inside
is my most precious belonging

i blamed you for everything
even when i ran away.
my ego wouldn’t let me see that

our story on yellow lined paper
i crumpled us up into a ball
i threw us into the trash can too
it’s never too late to say you’re sorry
i hope it’s not too late for you to hear me

tonight, more than anything, i long to dance with you
to be embraced by your lean, long arms
like a cluster of young fruit
growing up within the embrace
of the blueberry branches in july

when we dance your body is like a rocking chair
sturdy, and swaying with the music
i sink into your frame
same as i would when i was a tired child
nuzzling into the embrace of the foregone wooden rockers
that adorned my great grandmothers front porch

i yearn to hear the creaks of your soft wooden voice
wafting above my hair
as i twirl 'round you

namaste
i see the divine in you
persistent kindness
selfless love
deep peace
namaste

floating on smooth summer air
a hot breeze seeps into the mountain pass
the aroma of cinnamon
earthy and humid, it envelops my face
like opening my mother’s oven thanksgiving morning

your pheromones came to me
on the wave of the sticky evening air
i breathed you in
i devoured all the oxygen from the valley
greedy and gorged
like thanksgiving evening
i succumb to the aromatic hangover
stargazing on my back in the soft grass

gushing river over stones
over toes
and into soul
therapy through medicine that’s wild-grown
respite in my appalachian home