I am deciduous
Verdant and tender
Alive in the resonance
Of your voice.

I will tremble in the winds of summer
When the night’s cool edges
Ripple the leaves against the sky

And I

Am awash in a hallowed rhythm.

I crave a sacred touch
Like wilderness
Like music
Like pulsing rivers of blood
Flooding my veins,
Like the greening of forests
In spring.

My leaves sing
When skimmed by the rough edges of your fingertips
Dipped now into the crevices of my hips and
I will bend like a sapling in your palms
And I will lick the sun

Until the gray of winter falls
And there is the inevitable return to earthly things
Trapped a deciduous being
Always longing for
Realms that are evergreen.