Holly and Blackberry

Could we let more go, overlook, extricate –

Only to watch where things lean on their own accord

As in the unkempt shoulder, where the holly and blackberry

Are knotted in camaraderie. Similarly, would

We be kinder to each other if we uncorked our

Hearts like anniversary wine taken off the shelf –

Now it’s gone, we might say, and yet

It is just a matter of alternating emptiness and fullness.

Why shame the unrestrained joy or candid pleasure

                  (Lick me like a mineral salt deposit!)

Politely greet the dearth after the storm

Forgive meanness and the thousand bruises behind

Each dishonest word or snarled lip, and

Let it be known that rigidity is befitting only to a pole –

Haven’t you heard how even the trees moan, so do not be afraid

Of flipping backwards into your love and desire

What all you will learn by observing the holly and blackberry entwine or,

Letting it go for the time being to lean into him and him into you,

Making room for more, by giving up more, mutually.