APPLE

Ah, take a bite, you say,

the flesh is sweet and

life is short and ofttimes

bitter; we cannot guess

what may come next, and

mystery shrouds the hereafter.

But today.....we live.

Today we feel. Fingertips

on skin, breath against breath,

caught within this place as

surely as Spanish moss clings

to the branches above us.

The stream bears witness

to the passage of time, and

as summer unwinds, it has less

to give...a tentative pool leaves

the memory of white water, but fresh

spring runoff has now turned to mud.

And yet, for a moment, as the

first star of evening peeks between

branches and touch becomes pure,

and laughter comes freely, it is easy

to see it...in the minds eye...

the grasp of the roots, clinging

with certainty...

to the promise of rain.